Going Sideways
by TaikoHawk
Summary: Jutsu intrinsically twist the laws of physics and what is possible. Sakura really shouldn't be surprised when accidentally mixing a few of them pretzels time and space. Flashfic series. Alternate universe/time travel.
1. Control

_TH: A new fic. I have a few chapters of this written already, as usual. I'm not sure how long it'll end up being. I'm doing something a little new; I'm writing with prompts. The chapters will be similar in length to the ones in my other fic "In a Life".  
_

_I feel I should warn you all; I'm starting my PhD program very soon (yes, I am that old), and i don't know how much free time I'll have to write. So updates may be few and far between. I really hope not, though. Writing is my preferred method of stress-relief; if I don't have time for it I might become very unhappy.  
_

_Also, I'm not going to bother with a beta. Because I am just that lazy. So please forgive any typos. I usually catch most of them myself, but I'm flying without a safety net this time.  
_

_Anyway. _ _Please review._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter One**

**Theme: Control**

* * *

Sakura guided the brush over the smooth stone, careful not to smudge the existing lines of ink that already spread across the floor, swirling around this last deliberate line. Finished, she lifted the brush, careful of drips, and sat up, allowing herself a small smile. Her body ached from kneeling on the stone floor for the last several hours, and her weary eyes burned, but she also felt _great_. This was the most complicated seal she'd been able to map out to date, and she was feeling the flush of accomplishment.

Up until she had observed Tsunade using them in some of her more complicated medical treatments, Sakura had believed seals to be mostly concerned with storage—putting one thing inside another, containing things. She had also believed sealing to be an art that required powerful chakra stores. She had been wrong on both counts. It wasn't so much the need for power that made _Fuuinjutsu_ difficult. It was the combination of having enough chakra to activate the seal and having the control to make sure the seal array wasn't shattered by excess chakra or fumbled by lack of sufficient chakra. Sealing was a subtle art. Although Sakura didn't have the chakra levels of most of her Teammates, she was equipped well enough to do most medical seals. Direct healing seals, seals for diagnosis, seals for poison analysis, for antidote synthesis… As a dedicated med-nin, Sakura had immediately seized upon the chance and began learning _Fuuinjutsu_. Anything to help her patients. Anything to keep her precious people alive. Anything to banish the ghosts of past failures.

War was upon them, which meant that medical jutsu were going to soon be in high demand. Already they were counting the lives lost to Akatsuki and Madara. Hopefully, the seal Sakura had been spending the last three weeks painstakingly painting onto the floor would help decrease those numbers. She was banking on it, really. She had high hopes for this seal, which had been developed into a multi-use jutsu—meaning she wouldn't have to repaint the whole thing after every patient.

Sakura stood and stepped back from her finished seal and cracked her back and neck with a series of small pops. She sighed and propped her hands on her hips, surveying the array. It was large, almost completely covering the floor of the room, which had been scraped bare of all furnishings to allow such practices. This particular medical seal was designed to detect and burn out foreign materials from a patient's body. One of the problems with poisonings was that the victim could die before the exact type of poison was identified. Although this seal was very costly in terms of chakra, much more so than any other type of poison-treatment, it made up for that downfall by saving lives that might otherwise be lost because of the lag between diagnosis and treatment.

Even if Sakura might not have the chakra necessary to power some of the more advanced seals—like the one that bound the Kyuubi inside Naruto, or the one that Akatsuki used to extract Bijuu from Jinchuuriki—she was easily skilled enough in the other sorts to merit the title of Sealing Master. She could make sturdy storage scrolls, and regularly supplied herself and her friends with Exploding Tags. She knew advanced theories, and could draw out seals for others to use—Naruto had the chakra stores to power all of the most costly seals. Even if he still had poor control, if he worked with someone with precise control, if that person acted as a conduit to check the flow of Naruto's chakra into the seal, he could activate the advanced seals Sakura drew out for him.

She could also, even if she had never admitted it to anyone, apply counter-seals to completely contain the effects of pre-existing ones… ones like Orochimaru's Curse Seal. She could also supplement pre-existing seals to strengthen them… like keeping the Kyuubi tightly sealed and unable to influence Naruto.

_:I might not have been able to help then, but I won't be caught helpless again!:_

Chin proudly lifted, Sakura scanned her completed seal and gave a pleased nod before turning on her heel and marching out to find her shishou.

Tsunade was easily located, being who she was. Sakura went to the Hokage's office, nodded cordially to the guards flanking the doors, and entered with a perfunctory knock. The Godaime Hokage was bent over some personnel reports and didn't look up as she said: "Well, what is it, Sakura?"

"I finished the seal, shishou."

"What seal? Wait. You finished the seal?" Tsunade's head lifted as what Sakura had said actually registered. Sakura nodded, and her mentor smiled.

"Well done. I'll check it when I have a moment… but I don't expect I'll find anything wrong, will I?" Though Sakura was classed as a Seal Master, there were protocols to follow with medical seals like this. Seals were checked over, no matter what the level of the one drawing it.

"Shishou, could I request—" Sakura was cut off by an explosion. The glass in the windows of Tsunade's office sang with the vibrations as the floor under their feet shook.

Tsunade was standing immediately, demanding of the ANBU who suddenly materialized in the room: "What the hell was that?"

"There's been an attack on the east wall," reported one.

"Who and how many?" Tsunade snapped, going to the windows that faced the east. The orange and red the sunset painted the Village with did nothing to hid the glow of uncontrolled fires at the wall, not to mention the black pillars of smoke.

The ANBU who had spoken had her head tilted to the side, as if she was listening to something none of the rest of them could hear. "There are… There is only one…"

"One?" Tsunade repeated, surprised. Then her face twisted with realization. "_Madara_."

Sakura's breath caught. There would only be one reason why _he_ would be here, attacking Konoha.

"Naruto!" she gasped, and she was running out of the office too fast for Tsunade to stop.

"Sakura, wait!"

The pink-haired kunoichi used _shunshin _to speed her steps, and bounded swiftly toward the breech point in the wall. There was no question in her mind that, if she went to where the danger was the greatest, she would find Naruto, sooner or later. The blond Jinchuuriki would undoubtedly head there himself, driven by his conviction of protecting Konoha and his own precious people.

She arrived on the scene to find several Konoha ninja—ANBU, Jounin, and Chuunin alike—motionless on the ground, and several more engaged in a pitched battle with the single, black-robed, orange-masked figure that dominated the battlefield. She went to the nearest motionless body and checked for vital signs… and then moved on to the next one… and again.

The third body showed some weak signs of continued life, so Sakura pulled on her healing chakra to try to stuff the Chuunin's entrails back into his body and seal up the jagged wounds covering him. It was while she was working on him that Naruto made his appearance.

"Madara!" The shout cut across the sounds of battle and the crackle of flames. Sakura risked a quick glance up, and her lips creased in a grim, tight smile at the sight of Naruto facing down the ancient Uchiha.

Her 'brother's' feet were spread and firmly planted, arms crossed over his chest, solemn determination blazing in his face. His red, flame-trimmed cloak fluttered and belled in the wind the nearby raging fires had created. His eyes were ringed with orange, the pupil constricted to a rectangular shape. Sage mode, then. And if the stories of Uchiha Madara were to be believed, Naruto would need the increased power the art provided.

Sakura set her jaw, thought _:Beat the bastard down, Naruto!: _and returned her attention to her patient. Adrenaline sharpened her senses so that she couldn't really miss the words that were exchanged over her head.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Considerate of you to save me the trouble of searching you out." Madara dropped the body of the last of the Konoha ninja he'd been toying with to the ground, and turned his face toward Naruto.

"I could say the same to you," Naruto's voice was carefully controlled, but with the easy of familiarity and practice, Sakura could detect the strain of emotion in his words.

Madara made a careless gesture. "I would have brought Sasuke, but… Well, there wasn't enough left of him to identify, let alone reanimate."

Sakura froze in the middle of sealing up the Chuunin's gut. Naruto's posture went rigid. Madara continued, his voice smug and malicious: "Of course, I'm not even sure you would have wanted to see him again, after what he did… who he killed…"

"Shut up," Naruto grated. "Bastard. You used him! It's your fault… I won't ever forgive you… and I won't let you escape this time. Let's finish this!"

"If you insist," Madara replied in a drawl. And then Sakura was bent over her patient, trying to protect the tender, newly formed skin she'd just nurtured into growth on his abdomen from the howling, debris-laden wind that Naruto and Madara kicked up with the fury of their combat.

The Chuunin would survive until someone could drag him to the hospital, so Sakura cut off her healing chakra, slung the insensate body over her shoulder, and _shunshin_'d to the very edge of the battlefield to tuck him into a safe corner. Although, 'safe' was a relative term. With Uchiha Madara nearby, there was still a high chance that the Chuunin could be killed by collateral damage.

_:But,: _Sakura thought, pulling on her fighter's gloves, _:he is no longer my immediate concern.:_

She stalked with a measured pace back to where Madara and Naruto were still trading blows and jutsu, and watched them a moment with narrowed eyes, picking up the rhythm of their fight. Damned if she was going to just let Naruto fight this alone! At the first opportune moment, she stomped the ground, sending fissures spidering out from her and throwing up chunks of dirt and rock. A particularly fine rock was thrust into the air by the force of her blow, and then promptly spin-kicked in the general direction of Madara's face.

He dodged, of course, but in doing so he broke off a particularly vicious attack on Naruto. Both of the men's attentions shifted to her. Naruto looked both worried and angry—probably at how she had drawn Madara's ire. Madara's expression was more difficult to decipher, what with the mask. But Sakura was willing to put money on his feeling annoyed. Most likely the sort of annoyed that one might feel right before swatting a fly that had dared bite them.

But Sakura was more of a tiger than a fly, and she had a brain as well as teeth and claws. Madara couldn't catch her in a _genjutsu _easily; she'd had too much practice fighting the Sharingan to fall for its more common tricks. So instead he tried to use one of his Mangekyo abilities. The vortex around his eye was visible as a swirling distortion. A few loose, light pieces of debris were sucked into the jutsu, and Sakura could feel it tugging at her clothes.

She leapt backwards, putting space between her and Madara, and took a small scroll from the storage bandolier she'd taken to wearing across her chest. Unfurling the scroll with an easy flick of her wrist, she swiftly activated the seal inked onto it. A small black pinprick of a hole opened in front of the seal, and a distortion similar to that surrounding Madara's eye appeared. The air caught between the two—Madara's teleportation jutsu and Sakura's vacuum seal—screamed as both forces tore at it.

Were this a one-on-one battle between Sakura and Madara, there would be no contest of who would win. Madara was more powerful, and had more advantages to his side than Sakura had. She might make it difficult for him, but Madara would be the undisputed winner. So it was a good thing that she wasn't trying to take him on all by herself.

Naruto barreled in from the side, Rasengan spinning rapidly in one hand. Madara broke away and flashed out of the blond's path. Dirt flew as Naruto punched his jutsu into the ground where Madara had just been.

The Uchiha was probably smirking, if the tilt of his head and the superior pose of his body was any clue.

_:So glad we amuse him,: _she thought, fury warming her veins. Aloud, she growled: "Naruto."

He nodded once, and abruptly five of his clones burst from their hiding spots, scattered across the battlefield. They charged Madara, and the Uchiha spun to meet the first. The _kage bunshin _took a swing at him, but Madara caught its wrist, stopping the blow before it could land. Madara's other hand rammed into the clone's chest, and burst through its back in an explosion of gore. The _bunshin _gasped once before popping in a puff of smoke. The real Naruto and the remaining clones didn't so much as flinch as the experiences from the destroyed clone were transferred to them. But in short order, the other _kage bunshin _were destroyed as well, leaving only one Naruto standing on the rubble.

"Naruto-sama!"

Sakura's head whipped around at the shout and she grimaced at the sight of a squad of Konoha ninja running forward. They were probably back-up, but in this fight they were more likely to just get killed as minor annoyances by Madara. She flung a hand out to them. "No, stay back!"

Perhaps they didn't hear. Perhaps they ignored her. Perhaps they simply couldn't stop themselves in time. Whatever the reason, the newcomers charged forward, and met their deaths. Madara sucked two into his vortex, nailed one with a spray of senbon in the throat, plunged a kunai into the heart of a fourth, and snapped the neck of the last.

He moved so quickly, Sakura gaped at how five of her comrades seemed to have all died at once. Naruto shouted and charged, but Madara was expecting it, and dodged easily. He batted Naruto to the ground, and then his hands fluttered quickly through some seals. "_Doton: Gekidou no jutsu!_"

He slammed his hand onto the ground.

And everything exploded. Or, more correctly, the ground suddenly shook under them, shivering and buckling. Buildings collapsed, powerlines fell and sparked, and an entire district of Konoha was flattened in moments. Sakura, protected by virtue of the fact that she knew how to navigate broken and breaking ground (although she was usually the one _causing_ the upheaval, with her super-strength), stared in horror at the shattered buildings. How many people had Madara just killed? And he hadn't even broken a sweat.

Naruto had escaped the jutsu with a swift bound, straight into the air. He landed like a cat, gracefully and poised, and slowly his head turned to take in the destruction.

"You all kept warning Sasuke that his lust for revenge would tear him apart. And what do you know, it actually did," Madara commented blithely, as if what he was saying was of no concern to him. But Sakura knew that every word he spoke was pointed, a verbal knife meant to draw Naruto's blood. They stung her, too, making her hands clench into tight fists. "Well, metaphorically, anyway. The thing that did the actual tearing was the Nibi."

Madara tilted his head to fix Naruto with a steady stare. The Uchiha's volume lowered, as if divulging a secret. "You know, Sasuke-kun nearly begged for me to give him the Nibi. He wanted its power so badly. It's a pity that the Bakeneko broke free and killed him."

There was a pause and then Naruto let loose a furious shriek. Sakura blanched at how the noise edged on inhuman. _:No! The Kyuubi…:_

Naruto may have recently been gaining more control over the Fox, but given half a chance, Madara would wrest control of the Bijuu from Naruto, and turn the Kyuubi on both its Jinchuuriki and Konoha. That was the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Madara's attention seemed entirely taken up with Naruto, and Sakura was more sure than ever that he was laughing behind his mask. He lifted his arms, as if to say 'come get me.' Naruto obliged, a cowl of malevolent red chakra growing over him, forming into three tails behind him.

Sakura cursed. Naruto's greatest strength, his compassion, was also his greatest weakness. Madara would play on Naruto's emotions to get the Jinchuuriki into his clutches. _:Damn it!:_

She pulled out a handful of kunai and hurled them toward Madara with unerring accuracy. But the Uchiha merely used his strange, powerful ability, and the weapons phased right through him without any effect. Moreover, Madara caught the last one and sent it back at her faster than she could follow.

She couldn't help the sharp noise of pain she made as the kunai bit deep into her shoulder. The steel blade grated against the bone, but miraculously missed her axillary artery and vein. She hissed and ripped the kunai from her body, and passed a green-glowing hand over the wound, healing it enough to be functional.

Naruto was not unaware of her injury, and he let out another roar, this time even less human. Another tail started to leak out. Sakura straightened, eyes widening. _:No!:_

She pulled out a blank scroll, along with a brush and inkpot. She had to do something, either to Madara, or to Naruto, to stop what looked like a disaster in the making.

Naruto, on all fours and completely covered by red chakra, shrieked and leaped at Madara. Madara lifted his hands in front of him, and they began to glow. With increasing desperation, Sakura made a seal as fast as possible. She didn't even notice what kind it was; she just drew whichever one came to mind first. She didn't have time to deliberate.

"NARUTOOOO!" She threw herself between the two shinobi, and activated the seal.

Naruto's Kyuubi chakra, Sakura's seal chakra, and Madara's chakra collided…

Sakura was aware of an abrupt and eerie silence, a pocket of complete stillness, and then everything blazed white and a roaring rose in her ears…

And then there was nothing.


	2. Weak

_TH: I keep wanting to explain the title of this story, because it does have meanings, one of which I'm not sure others will know. But I keep worrying that it'd be pretty much an admission of what I'm doing with this fic, and I don't want to do that until I've admitted to it in the actual story. Next chapter, I think. Right now Sakura's still confused.  
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_Please read and review!  
_

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**Going Sideways**

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**Chapter Two**

**Theme: Weak**

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Sakura's eyes fluttered open as her mind slowly started filtering through the mess of information her senses were feeding her. The sun had finished setting in the time she was unconscious, and the moon had gilded silver the edges of the destruction surrounding her. She could hear animal roars and human screams in the air. She blinked dazedly, and pushed herself up to her hands and knees. She coughed, turned her head, and spat blood.

_:Ugh,: _she grimaced and carefully lifted her spinning head. It took two tries to get her eyes to focus, and when they did, she wondered if maybe there was something wrong with her vision. Because that definitely _couldn't _be the Kyuubi, raging around in the forest just outside Konoha's walls. And there was no _way _a giant toad with a sword was facing the Fox down. And it was _impossible _that there were so many, many motionless ninja in Konoha uniforms scattered on the broken ground. Except it was. And there were.

_:Madara freed the Kyuubi,: _she thought blankly, numb with horror. _:And now Naruto and Gamabunta are fighting him. Oh, hell.:_

She staggered to her feet, dismayed at how weak her knees were. It felt like she was about to fold up and collapse. Groping in a pouch at her waist, she grabbed a soldier pill and stuffed it into her mouth. Almost at once, fresh energy filled her. She pressed a hand to her head, and took care of the headache. Something was nagging at the back of her mind, but she ignored it in favor of moving toward Gamabunta. She started at a walk, to test her legs, and when they proved steady, she stepped up her pace until the wind whistled in her ears.

Naruto would have to try to seal the Kyuubi again. It was the only option he had, other than just letting the Bijuu obliterate Konoha. Bijuu could not be killed, not in any definitive way. It had to be sealing.

When Sakura had first been learning _Fuuinjutsu_, Naruto had learned with her. He ended up not having the patience for much of anything beyond simple seals and gave it up after a while, leaving Sakura to 'deal with the complicated stuff,' but one of the projects they had been working on together had been building their understanding of how the _Shiki Fuujin _on Naruto's belly worked. Because of the personal interest he had in the matter, this was the one advanced seal Naruto had set out to learn. And with his typical, bull-headed determination, he had learned everything there was to know about the seal that kept the Kyuubi inside him from hurting his precious people.

The fact that he knew that seal backwards and forwards had never concerned Sakura before. But now…

She had a sinking feeling that Naruto would use the _Shiki Fuujin _to reseal the Kyuubi no Youko, giving up his life to do so. Naruto would die, and some new infant would be cursed to the same existence as the blond had had. A childhood of pain and lovelessness. A life of constantly trying to win some regard other than fear and hate.

No. Sakura wouldn't allow it. She would find another way. Failure was not an option!

She charged forward, pulling out brush and inkpot once again, poised to draw whatever seals she needed. She ran straight for the massive toad, as the amphibian grappled briefly with the Fox, keeping the raging demon back from the Village. Something teased at the back of her mind, like a child tugging at the clothes of a parent, demanding attention. But Sakura couldn't afford to be distracted. Several of the swiftest _shunshin_ she had ever executed later, she was at the feet of Gamabunta. A chakra-powered leap took her to his back, and she scrambled toward the tall, blond figure standing proudly upright at the toad's head, his cloak flaring dramatically in the wind of the Kyuubi's latest screaming breath. She could see the seal array was already inked around his feet, the circle of lines and symbols that would twist and cycle the energy of the seal into the form of its purpose.

_:NOT. On _my_ watch,: _she snarled in her head, and prepped her brush for some quick editing.

The theory, the idea, was forming so rapidly in her mind that she could scarcely shake off her surprise enough to believe it. 'Necessity is the mother of invention,' it is said. That is an overwhelming understatement. Sakura had never been, and likely never would be again, as _brilliant_, as ingenious, as quick-witted, as she was in that moment.

Sakura swooped in, twisting in a movement that should have been impossible, kicking Naruto's hands out of their seal and rubbing out a section of the array with a gloved hand. A film of chakra on the limb made sure the ink was wiped thoroughly away, instead of just smearing. Sakura was vaguely aware of a protesting shout behind her—something about it set up a red flag in her mind—but she devoted all of her energy and attention into slashing her brush across the skin of Gamabunta's head, completing the (slightly modified) seal array. There was a startled oath from Naruto as she finished and stood. With the speed of desperation, she slammed her hands together into the first seal, screaming to Naruto as she did so: "NOW! ACTIVATE IT NOW!"

There was the barest pause…

And abruptly, in that fraction of a second, Sakura realized what had been nagging at her this entire time…

_If the Kyuubi was extracted from Naruto, he would be dead…_

_ If he was dead, he wouldn't be able to attempt a _Shiki Fuujin_…_

_ Naruto's cloak is supposed to be _red_, not white…_

_ That's not Naruto's voice…_

…and then Sakura could feel the seal activate. She had just enough time to half-turn her head, to glimpse the face of the man standing on Gamabunta's head behind her. She had just enough time to think _:That's not Naruto…: _before, once again, she was caught up in a blaze of light and energy, and dropped into blank darkness.


	3. Apology

**Going Sideways**

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**Chapter Three**

**Theme: Apology**

* * *

Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha, was sitting with his elbows leaning on his knees in the dark room. His blue eyes nearly glowed with reflected light from the moon that shone through the window. The expression in those eyes was distant and thoughtful, but burning all the same. And they were fixed on the crib in front of him, where a tiny figure with a soft thatch of blond baby fuzz slept.

He hadn't expected to see Naruto turn twelve _minutes_ old, let alone twelve hours. It was the destiny of the Hokage, or their curse, to die before their time. In a way, it was their duty. As the strongest ninja of Konoha, the Hokage was meant not only to lead the Village, but to defend it from threats beyond the level of its regular ninja. The Kyuubi was definitely in that category. None of Konoha's Jounin, nor any of its ANBU, could hope to defeat the demon. So it fell to Minato. And he understood that. All of it.

He had been prepared to die to seal the Kyuubi away. It had been his intent. But then…

The seal was entirely functional, a success. Really, it was… beautiful. The seal was beautiful. When he'd first seen it, the array that mapped out what the seal was and would do, he had been shocked. _There_ was the culmination of the principles he had been studying, the theories he had been researching. It was the seal he would have made, had he had the time to consider anything except the _Shiki Fuujin. _Except he _hadn't_ had the time. The Kyuubi was there, and action had to be taken. He would have used the _Shiki Fuujin _and given his life because it was his only chance to save his son and his Village.

The Kyuubi was sealed inside Naruto, as planned. Konoha was safe, as planned. But he was alive… Because some strange girl had jumped in from out of nowhere and redrawn his array. And he'd allowed her. First because he'd been surprised by her abrupt appearance—he hadn't sensed her until she'd burst onto the scene, and hadn't sensed any killer intent from her at all—and then because she had begun to paint the new array and he _understood it_. Shock had frozen him until she shouted at him to activate it, and then he had hesitated—_who was she?_—before finally feeding it the chakra it needed.

Someone knocked softly on the door, and Minato blinked slowly. The door opened. "Minato-kun. I heard what happened."

"Did you?" Minato murmured in reply to the quiet voice, not moving.

There was the barest pause, and then, gently: "Including what happened to Kushina-chan."

Minato's posture stiffened. His jaw tightened, and he forced back the emotions that threatened to choke him—grief and rage.

He didn't want to think about… He couldn't handle that right now.

He realized he'd stopped breathing, and took a very slow, deep breath. Perhaps wisely, his visitor gave up that direction of conversation and said: "Have you analyzed the seal?"

Still breathing slowly to calm himself, Minato merely hummed an affirmative, and gestured vaguely to the desk set against the wall. His visitor went to it and picked up the papers strew across it, inspecting them thoughtfully. "It works?"

Minato had reacquired his balance, and so deemed speech safe enough. He said, softly: "It's beautiful, isn't it? It proves what I've been postulating… and it ties all my theories together."

He raised his gaze to his visitor, and gave a wan smile. "It works, Sarutobi-sensei."

The Sandaime Hokage looked away from his successor toward the cradle. "And Naruto?"

"He seems fine," Minato sighed. "Not that I'm an expert on day-old babies. He eats a lot, and sleeps a lot."

Sandaime smiled, and moved to look into the crib. But Minato snapped out a hand and stopped him. "Exactly how much were you told?"

Minato's voice was level, pitched to not wake the sleeping infant Naruto, and the color of his eyes intensified as his gaze sharpened. Sarutobi lifted his eyebrows. "You did not use the _Shiki Fuujin_. An unknown kunoichi redrew the array, and you activated it. The Kyuubi was sealed, and the girl disappeared."

The Yondaime sighed. "That is not… quite… what happened. She didn't disappear, entirely."

_He stared in astonishment as the girl flew through the air in front of him, one foot hooking his wrists and yanking his hands from their seal as her hands became a blur of brush and ink. Was she redrawing…? Minato's eyes widened further as the new seal array began to take form. That's a… And if she put a reversed point there… and a conduit… a shaping kanji… Yes… It's… It's… beautiful…_

_ "NOW!" she screamed at him, "ACTIVATE IT NOW!"_

_ What? He startled. But it was only a theory… Could he be sure…? There was no time. And he… believed this would work. He was taking too long; even a fraction of a second could matter. He could see the girl starting to turn impatiently toward him. He flicked through his hand seals._

_ A green eye found his face as the curve of one cheek appeared from behind the curtain of her pink hair. Why did she look so shocked?_

Minato shook his head. "Sorry, got lost in my thoughts for a minute."

He released the Sandaime's wrist and scrubbed his hands through his hair before finally explaining: "I could see what the seal was meant to do. And there was no time to ask questions. I activated it, and the light of the sealing event rose…"

He sighed, mussed his hair again and continued: "And when it faded, the Kyuubi was gone, the seal had formed on Naruto's stomach, and the girl…"

He fell silent again, brow furrowing.

_Minato had staggered off of Gamabunta's head, the toad considerately bowing down to make it easier. The Yondaime had his arms wrapped around the baby sling that had kept Naruto pressed against Minato's chest for the sealing. Naruto was crying, making fussy uncomfortable-baby sounds. Minato automatically soothed him, in a daze. He stepped over a crushed tree, blinking the after-image of the seal's activation light from his eyes._

_ He almost stepped on it, before he realized there was a high keening whine coming from the vicinity of his feet. He froze, and stared down. _

_ The small red fox was lying on its side on the ground before him, sides heaving as it panted and whined. Its narrow muzzle was open, showing tiny glinting teeth._

_ No. No, that was not possible. He had sealed… Wait._

_ Minato stared, his automatic response of taking a kunai to the creature curbed by a few simple facts._

_ First, the fox had only one tail. The Kyuubi, obviously, was supposed to be a fox with nine._

_ Second, the seal had worked. The proof was on Naruto's belly and cheeks. He had checked._

_ Third, this fox was scarcely grown. It was only a kit._

_ Fourth—and this one registered in Minato's mind as the kit at his feet twitched and looked up at him from a half-closed green eye—he had seen that color green before, only moments ago._

Minato closed his eyes and gestured to the crib across the room. "Go, look. But please, before you act, let me tell you what I think."

Somewhat bemused, the Sandaime stepped to the side of the crib and leaned over to look in. He could help the soft smile that spread across his face at the sight of the tiny figure of the slumbering newborn, his pudgy cheeks limned by moonlight. He noted that there were three little lines—like whiskers, really—stretched across the delicate skin. The sign of a Jinchuuriki. All demon containers manifested some outward sign of their tenants; it was a well-documented occurrence.

Little Naruto had his father's hair, Sarutobi noted in amusement, the downy blond locks already stood out from the baby's head like dandelion fluff. He was sure it would grow out into an unruly nest of golden spikes.

Then Sarutobi looked closer at the bumpy shadow that stretched at Naruto's side, and frowned. It wasn't a shadow, it was a stuffed animal of some kind. Sarutobi was about to open his mouth to reprimand Minato for doing something so dangerous as putting a stuffed animal into a newborn's crib—infants were unable to lift or move themselves, so if a stuffed animal fell on them, they could easily smother—when he realized. That wasn't a _stuffed_ animal. It was an _animal_ animal. A fox. A living, breathing fox, sleeping next to Naruto in the crib.

Considering what had just befallen Konoha at the hands—paws—of a fox, it was no wonder that the Sandaime recoiled. "Minato! That's not—?"

"No," Minato responded, quietly and thoughtfully. "No, I thought the same thing at first, but it's not the Kyuubi."

He took a breath, released it in a long huff. And finally admitted: "I think that's the kunoichi."

* * *

_Author's note at the end! Yay! It's because I foresee this being long. But I wanted to address a couple things.  
_

_First of all: SURPRISE! Heh. Heh.  
_

_Second: I can finally tell you about the title! The first meaning is the more well-known one. 'Going sideways' is a phrase that can be used to describe things going wrong, a situation going FUBAR. But in one of my favorite book series (Young Wizards by Diane Duane) going 'sideways' means slipping through time, between the worlds. Oooo, double meanings! I'm rather partial to the phrase, in the time-travel sense. It sounds... poetic. I also like the phrase that is said in conjunction with it- "The wind blows, and things get blown along with it." (Read these books! It's magic but very science-y!)  
_

_Anyway. Third: a reviewer mentioned how my depiction of the Kyuubi's sealing was different from canon. There's a very simple reason for this: I actually started writing this story back before the manga chapter that showed it came out (I waited a while to post it so I could be sure my muse wasn't going to ditch it five chapters in). And by the time it was released, I'd written enough chapters of my fic that I didn't really want to change it. So there you have it. Very mundane reason. I'm not concerned, anyway. To me, fanfiction is all about changing events. I like to take the characters and change what happens to them. So getting things canon-correct isn't really that important; at least in my opinion. Besides, trying to write canon-compliant is like trying to hit a moving target, blind-folded. Point of case- who is Tobi supposed to be this week? Madara? Obito? Minato? Random-guy McGee?  
_

_ If you'd prefer that a real reason be given (in-story) to why then just think of it as Sakura not only slipped between times, she slipped between possible universes. According to the multiple universe theory, there must be at least one universe in which the sealing occurred the way I described it.  
_

_I'm done now. Please review!  
_


	4. Seeing Red

_TH: Hey everyone. Here's the next chapter! Thanks for everyone's reviews and follows and all! _

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

**Theme: Seeing Red**

* * *

Minato counted a full ten heartbeats before Sarutobi spoke again. When the old man did, it was slowly, carefully. The Professor had not earned that title by speaking without consideration, but seemed like he had put double the thought into this matter.

"You believe this fox is the kunoichi that rewrote your seal."

Minato couldn't tell whether Sarutobi thought him cracked or if the retired Sandaime was merely making a statement. He was too tired to analyze the old man's tone to find out. So he said only, "Yes."

Sarutobi was silent again.

_One…_

_Two…_

_Three…_

"Why?"

Minato rolled his head, stretching his neck and shoulder muscles. "The kunoichi disappeared after the seal took. The fox appeared then. It has the same color eyes that she did."

"…Hm."

"Considering everything that has just happened," Minato told his predecessor, "I'm not ruling out the possibility. We'll find out when she wakes."

"She hasn't yet?"

"No. She's been unconscious since the sealing event."

Sarutobi thought for a while longer, and then nodded. "I will admit the possibility. Have you called a Seal Master to check Naruto?"

"Yes," Minato replied.

"Good. Then perhaps have the… fox checked as well."

Minato nodded. "That's a good idea."

The Sandaime clasped his hands behind his back and turned away from the crib. He scrutinized Minato with sharp eyes. The blond felt a slow tension rise in him.

_Don't, don't—_

"Minato, about Kushina…"

"_Don't_." The word was torn from him. Minato closed his eyes, and saw a flicker of long red hair, and a flash of merry violet eyes… He sucked in a breath, the memory cutting him. He looked at his hands.

"You have to mourn her sometime; it isn't healthy—"

Minato's temper flared. He stood abruptly, eyes blazing. "Mourn her? _I mourn her every second of every minute of the day_. Every breath I take is a wail of grief. I don't speak of her because any word voiced is a knife to my heart. My grief would _kill me, _if I let it."

He sucked in air like he'd been running. He paused, and closed his eyes, and seemed to shrink a little as his fury fled. Wearily, he continued: "I mourn her. But I also know my duty. The Hokage can't break, not now."

"I'm sorry. I… didn't know," Sarutobi made an awkward gesture. "I…"

"It's alright," Minato said, voice a thin thread. He sat down and stared at the crib again. "It's alright… I can be strong for Konoha. For Naruto…"

His voice dropped so low it was barely audible. "For her son, our son."


	5. End

_TH: Okay, so going by everyone's reviews, I should probably explain a little more about how I am approaching this story. _Going Sideways _is a **flash-fiction series**. While there is no hard-and-fast definition of how how long a flash-fic is, I have defined it for the purposes of this story to be between **300-3000 words**. Less than that is a drabble, and more gets to be a short story or normal chapter. Each of these flash-fic chapters will be prompted by a theme. These shorter chapters and their prompts are a little bit of a writing challenge for me (sometimes I can become long-winded... just look at the length of this author's note). They are also nicer for me because of my newly busy schedule. I'm not only attending classes, I am also working 20 hours a week or more. Not to mention homework and the errands mundane everyday life requires. These shorter chapters make it a little easier for me to update on time._

_Speaking of updating on time, this chapter is a little early. Because it's a holiday, and not only that, it's my birthday. So I thought I'd celebrate by posting early._

_Also. The most recent Naruto manga chapter pissed me off royally. Kishimoto made it obvious for the last couple chapters he was going to do it, but it still annoys me. That character shifted waaaaay too far away from his previously stated personality. So far that not everything he's done and is doing can be explained away with the insanity gambit. Also. Why do my favorite characters stay dead when everybody else seems to have infinite lives? Grr. Well, I can say 100 percent that this fic is NOT going to be canon in that regard. Madara's going to frakkin' STAY Madara, thank you very much._

_Sorry. Anyway. Please enjoy, and review!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**Theme: End**

Sakura woke groggily, feeling altogether wretched. Like she'd just fought a succession of a hundred Sasoris. Like she'd just…

Gone up against the Kyuubi.

Alongside the Yondaime Hokage.

Oh.

_OH._

She woke up very quickly after that, head lifting and eyes going wide. Except something was wrong with her back, because her head and neck were moving oddly. And somehow her perception was a little off. In fact, her whole body felt _weird_.

She tried to sit up, but that just resulted in a lot of confused flailing. Why wasn't her body working?! What had happened to her? And what the heck was getting all tangled in her legs?

"Easy there," said a voice above her, and abruptly there was something huge covering her back. "You might knock Naruto."

Sakura froze. It was true, an infant Naruto was lying next to her, sleeping. She felt a rush of warmth at how cute his little face was… And then wondered why his 'little' face looked rather big to her. Too big. She blinked and shifted her focus to her other surroundings. She was lying on a firm mattress, surrounded by smooth wood bars. Actually it rather looked like a… crib?

No. No way. The seal _did not _go crazy and turn her into a baby. It was impossible. It made no sense.

"Shh, shh, calm down," said the same voice as before. "Quiet. You're alright. It's alright."

Sakura realized she was making a whimpering, whining sound. Startled, she choked off the noise. Something very strange was going on here…

The hands that had been soothingly stroking her back shifted, and abruptly Sakura was being lifted up. She kept very still, alarmed at the movement and how very small and vulnerable she seemed to be, held like this. Once she came to a rest, held partially against someone's chest and supported by two large, gentle hands, she craned her head to look up into the man's face.

_:Oh crap,: _she thought. And then, quite inappropriately, _:Naruto! Your dad's HOT!:_

Probably she wouldn't get used to looking into the face of the Yondaime Hokage any time soon, and not because of his good-looks. He was the hero of Konoha! Was she supposed to be _calm_, meeting him? Especially since _he_ was supposed to be _dead_. She thought she was doing pretty well, considering she hadn't fainted in shock. Although… the situation _had _rattled her brains enough that her first hang-up was that he was so handsome, instead of that he was _alive_.

It was also very obvious that the Yondaime was Naruto's father. The angles of his face were a little different, but… His hair, his eyes…

She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out except a strangled yelp. She blinked. Her face felt weird, and her teeth, and her tongue. What in the world—?

"You haven't realized what has happened, yet, have you?" asked the Yondaime quietly. It sounded more like a rhetorical question than anything, so Sakura ignored it in favor of trying to figure out why she felt so different.

"There is no kind way to do this," the Yondaime told her, voice a little louder now. He took a couple steps, turned her around in his hands, and set her down on a tabletop. "Here. Look."

Sakura blinked and stared into the pointy face of a little red fox with spring-green eyes. Her eyes.

_:Gnuh?: _she thought, intelligently.

It was a mirror. The fox was her.

The _damn freaking _seal had _turned her _into a _fox_. WHY did the world hate her? Her ears went back, and the end of her tail tucked firmly between her legs. She cowered a bit to the surface of the table and whined. This hadn't been a part of her calculations for the seal. It wasn't supposed to turn anyone into a fox! She ran through the array's composition again, checking her work. What had gone wrong? She couldn't think of anything… If the theories she had founded the design on were correct, nothing like this should have happened. And the theories had been substantiated by several independent tests! They should have been right…

"Well, you seem to be coherent," said the Yondaime's voice above her. She turned her head to give him a very pathetic look, eyes wide and ears flat against her lowered head. "I worried that whatever went wrong might have also damaged your human mind."

His blue eyes sharpened, the color of them intensifying. "You _are _the kunoichi who changed the seal, aren't you?"

Sakura nodded her head carefully, making sure to get the motion right. Moving this body was becoming a little easier, not that she trusted her control over its legs just yet.

The Yondaime crossed his arms over his chest, eyes narrowing. "The seal seems to have worked; the Kyuubi was sealed—" Sakura's ears perked up "—and without the need of a life sacrifice. Of course, I've still called one of our best Seal Masters to come and look at it."

Sakura gave a prim nod. It made sense; the Yondaime hadn't had much time to review the redrawn array. He had apparently deemed it good enough, and trustworthy enough to activate it at the time, but he might have missed something. After all, they didn't know her. They didn't know they could trust her.

_:I wonder who the Seal Master he sent for is… Jiraiya-sama?: _Considering he was the only Seal Master she knew of besides the Yondaime himself, it was likely. Maybe he'd even be able to figure out how to fix her!

"If only you could talk…" mused the blond Hokage standing next to her table. She gave a little whine and ducked her head. Yeah, if only. Although, not being able to talk saved her the trouble of trying to explain exactly who she was, what she was doing there, and how she'd gotten there. Ninja have a very—shall we say _interesting_—definition of what is possible, thanks to the fantastic things they can do with chakra, but Sakura suspected that time travel was something that might test the limits of their mental flexibility.

As if to prove her point, the part of her mind that had been, up till now, cowering and gibbering in a corner went _:Ahahahaha!: _like it'd just heard the most hilarious joke ever. The coherent parts of Sakura flinched at the high note of hysteria in the laugh.

_:And now I'm going insane,: _she thought. _:Yep, this is a great situation you've gotten yourself in, Haruno.:_

She shifted and tried to turn away from the mirror, to face the Hokage and the rest of the room, but she was still not used to moving in a fox's body. Her paws got tangled and she stumbled and fell. Finding herself in a jumble on the tabletop, she blinked, and huffed wearily. _:Fan-freaking-tastic.:_

_Snort_.

Her head rose and she pinned the Yondaime Hokage with a look that was equal parts indignation and shock. Had he just _laughed _at her? His posture—one hand covering his mouth, his eyes slightly curved in repressed amusement—certainly said so. Well, wasn't that interesting. Her history books had never said that the Fourth had a sense of humor. Then again, she probably _did _look ridiculous, or cute, or both, tripping over her own paws like that. She probably looked a little like a clumsy puppy, and who couldn't help but laugh at that?

Still. She _wanted _to growl at him—almost did, too, before the goody-two-shoes part of her screeched in horror 'but he's the _YONDAIME_!'—but she settled with grumbling to herself low in her throat.

_:This is not my best day ever,: _she thought, disgruntled. Sure, she was still alive (that was a bit of an accomplishment, considering everything that had happened), but she had also been sent back in time, turned into a fox, and now couldn't even control her new body.

"Sorry," said the Hokage, some of his amusement still leaking into his contrite tone. "Sorry, it's just that… Are you alright?"

Sakura huffed again, this time making it sound more beleaguered. At least she could still kind of communicate, if only by using easily recognizable sounds and body-language.

It was then that baby Naruto woke up and started fussing. He'd only gotten out a couple good wails before the Fourth was cradling him in his arms, murmuring soothingly. Sakura lifted her head to watch the interaction, and felt her heart melting. _:Maybe… maybe this isn't all bad.:_


	6. Gravity

_TH: Hi all. Next chapter up! I don't have much else to say. Enjoy!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**Theme: Gravity**

* * *

For the first several hours Sakura was awake and aware of her situation, she was giving serious consideration to how she could possibly get back to her time before she did something to mess up this one. Well. Before she did something to mess this one up more than she already had. Because it would be impossible to say she hadn't changed things by saving the Yondaime, even if it had been by accident.

Not that she could say she was sorry, exactly. The Yondaime had kept her close, ostensibly so he could keep a wary eye on her, so she had seen the tenderness with which the man had handled his son. And it had tugged on her emotions more than anything she'd ever seen, mostly because she knew how _hungry _her Naruto had been for such love.

Of course, who knows what she'd messed up by interfering with the Kyuubi's sealing? Maybe she'd screwed up something in the future by saving the Yondaime's life. What was that theory? The Grandfather Paradox? That was close to it… By making it so Naruto's father wasn't dead, maybe Sakura had changed the future so that Madara's attack on Konoha wouldn't happen, or wouldn't happen the same way. Then she wouldn't jump in between Naruto's and Madara's attacks, which would mean she wouldn't be sent back in time (she was pretty sure that had been the trigger). That would mean then that she hadn't interfered, and the Yondaime _had _used the _Shiki Fuujin _and was dead. Which…

_:Ow.: _Sakura thought, cutting off that Möbius Strip of a train of thought. _:My brain.:_

Perhaps she shouldn't worry about it too much. It was done, for better or for worse. She couldn't go back and…change…it…

_:Haha. Funny,: _she thought wryly. _:But still true. The circumstances that led to my coming here would be difficult to precisely identify, and probably even more difficult to replicate. Was it the exact combination of the Kyuubi's chakra and Madara's? Was it the combination of the attacks? My seal? All three?:_

Besides, the Grandfather Paradox wasn't the only option for analyzing the situation. What about the theory of Restricted Action Resolution? There was the chance that her actions wouldn't matter in the end. Maybe Suna or Iwa or Kiri or any number of other enemies would attack tomorrow, and the Yondaime would sacrifice himself _then_, resulting in the same outcome as Sakura had seen in her future.

And what about the possibility of the Parallel Universes Resolution? Maybe while she was off in this timeline, there was another one running parallel right next to her, one in which the Yondaime had used the _Shiki Fuujin_ and died. Maybe she'd created a new split in the ever-branching stream of time and possibilities.

Sakura thought back on her Naruto, the one who had been alone and hated and in pain for all his life until he'd finally, _finally, _managed to force everyone to see him and see his worth. And she put the image of that boy up against the image she had just witnessed, of the love on the Fourth's face as he cradled and cooed at his baby boy.

No. She didn't—really, _couldn't_—regret her actions so far. Maybe she had messed things up. Oh well. It was just as likely that one of the other theories was true, and she had instead improved things by saving the Yondaime's life.

Though that did present her with a problem. If this _was_ an alternate timeline and she hadn't just screwed her own world up, if she had instead improved another world's future… Then why just stop with the Yondaime? The chance she had before her was intoxicating. Tempting. Why not stay and live in this world, making this world better as she could with her knowledge? It wasn't like the time she had left had been particularly enjoyable. What reason did she have to go back to it?

And more importantly, what _chance _did she have to get back? She had no idea how she'd traveled back to now, so how was she supposed to figure out how to travel forward to _then_. And how would she know it was really _her _time? If time wasn't a single, straight river, flowing in one direction… if it were, instead, a tangle of roots, always branching, giving infinite possibilities and variations… Then she could possibly _miss _her time and accidentally end up somewhere _worse_. A world where Orochimaru took over Konoha, perhaps. A world where the Kyuubi hadn't been sealed. Anything.

Maybe it would be safer for her to just… stay here… in this time.

The gravity of her situation did not escape her, but the more Sakura thought about it, the more difficult she found it to worry about the consequences.


	7. Lapse

_TH: I had some comments about Sakura's (current) inability to communicate, stating that she'd be able to use Morse code. I didn't remember any instances of Morse being used in canon, so I did some internet sleuthing. There were 2 instances I found of Morse code in Naruto/Shippuuden, and both of them were in anime filler. Which explains why I didn't remember them- I don't watch the anime (and God save me from filler). By and large, the method for communicating in Naruto seems to be either through summons, jutsu, or messenger hawk. Since Morse code is not prevalent in manga-canon, I'm going to continue as I have. So, no Morse code for Sakura. Don't worry, though, she'll have ways of communicating later._

_Anyway. As always, please read and review! Much obliged._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**Theme: Lapse**

* * *

Sakura woke in the middle of the night and lifted her head to free both her ears. She could hear something, a very slight noise.

_:What… what is that?: _she rose to her feet carefully. Practice had afforded her some control over her new body, so she didn't wobble or stumble on her four paws, but she still had to be very conscious when she moved her limbs.

She'd been sleeping in Naruto's room, on a cushion laid on the table next to the crib. A quick glance around the room told her that the Yondaime wasn't there.

She jumped to the floor, unable to stop the _thud _of her landing—her control wasn't that good yet. But the lapse didn't seem to make a difference—she heard the noise again, unchanged. Whoever or whatever was making it hadn't heard her.

Slowly and as quietly as possible, she padded out of the room and down the hallway, and crouched low as she reached the top of the stairs that led down into the house's first floor, poking her nose over the edge and looking down. She froze.

The Yondaime was kneeling in the corner, in front of the family altar. There was a photograph sitting on a low shelf there, showing the grinning face of a red-haired woman.

Feeling like someone had just punched her in the gut, Sakura realized that she recognized the woman's grin. She'd seen it on another face, a more familiar face. Naruto's face. This had obviously been his mother.

_:That's a memorial altar. She's dead.: _This second realization was like another blow, even though Sakura had _known _that Naruto had been an orphan. Somehow, she had never thought that he had lost both his parents at the same time, on the night he'd been born. Sakura's heart twisted.

Because of her intervention in this time, Naruto had not lost his father. But his mother had still died. And the Yondaime…

Slowly, inexorably, her gaze inched toward the blond man. Dread, sympathy, and pity tightened her throat.

Naruto had lost his mother. The Yondaime had lost his wife.

He was folded in three, his nose nearly brushing the floor as he rocked in place, sobbing breathlessly. His voice was very soft, the barest whisper, filled with agonizing grief: _"Kushina, Kushina, Kushina, Kushina…"_

Sakura could smell the salt of his tears.

Her own eyes burning, Sakura backed slowly away, to leave the Yondaime to grieve in peace.


	8. Holy

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

**Theme: Holy**

* * *

It was amazing to see the Yondaime Hokage, the Yellow Flash, a _legend_ of Konoha alive and in the flesh. Sakura didn't think she'd ever really get over it.

But even more than that, she didn't think she'd ever lose the awe she felt when she saw how very human he was. All the stories she'd heard from her time had made him seem like a paragon, the best that any Leaf ninja could ever hope to be. Strong, selfless, smart. He wasn't a person, he was an _ideal_. He was a hero, a figure of bedtime stories. It was almost too easy to forget he'd been a real life person.

Her history books had never said he had a sense of humor, though she had seen that he did. They also never said what his name was. It was strange… Not that they didn't say, because Sakura understood that his name had been hidden as a part of the Law that had revolved around Naruto and Naruto's existence. Rather, it was strange that she had never really _noticed _before now.

Those books had spoken of him as the Hokage, briefly mentioned he'd been the Yellow Flash. He had been defined in those terms, treated with an almost reverence. Shinobi. Leader.

But not human. Not a man, with a name and not just a title. Not someone who loved or laughed.

Now that Sakura had seen him, realized he wasn't some holy figure, spoken of in obscure terms in a book, she found that not knowing his name bothered her. She could _see _that he was something more than just a hero in a war, or a great leader. But the closest she could come to defining him as just a person was as 'Naruto's father.' She'd saved his life, but she didn't know much about that life beside the tales.

It became a _need_, sharply felt, that she learn his name.


	9. Phobia

_TH: So... I haven't decided whether I want Sakura to have the abilities of a kitsune, like in the folktales. To some extent, I don't want to, because in the folktales, any fox can gain nine tails and yet in Naruto, the Kyuubi is kinda depicted as a special one-time thing. Or at least there's no mention of other foxes. __But giving her the abilities of a kitsune would be a good way to allow her in on any action. She'd be able to fight (somewhat), and she wouldn't be over-powered. _

_I'm hesitant to give her her 'human' abilities because, well, then she might as well be human. I've made her a fox because I wanted to inject something new and fresh into the mix. Making it not actually matter would be silly._

_Another option would be to allow her to access her chakra, but have to figure out new ways of molding it, since her chakra network would be different and she'd have different physical chakra because of her fox-body._

_I kind of what to know what you guys think. So I'm making this a_ **POLL**_. So if you want you can go to my profile and _**VOTE ON YOUR CHOICE**_._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

**Theme: Phobia**

* * *

With some very determined practice, Sakura had manage to get the basics of movement down in a few days after first waking up in her new body. She could stand, sit, lie down, walk at two speeds (plodding and trotting), and could complete a few other simple movements. She couldn't yet run or make any more graceful motion than turning in a circle, but she was working on it. Currently, she was seated on the Hokage's desk, tail curled around her paws.

They were waiting for the Seal Master to arrive. The Hokage's desk had been cleared of all sensitive documents—another symptom of their wariness around her—and was now scattered with great amounts of paper, detailing the observations the Yondaime had made. There were also sketches of seal arrays and bits of scribbled theories. The Hokage was poring over them. There were three ANBU agents hidden around and outside the room; Sakura could smell them, and (just barely) sense their chakra.

She wasn't really certain whether they were there because of her, or because there were always three ANBU guarding the Hokage at any given time. Three seemed a bit excessive to her, but then again… She had never been able to sense them before. So she had never really known how many had been guarding the Sandaime, or Tsunade. It was only now, with the heightened senses of her fox body, that she could tell how many there were. And who knew? Maybe they were on increased guard because of the Kyuubi's attack.

Sakura made a point of ignoring them. Instead, she watched the Yondaime sift through his notes and mutter to himself, and watched baby Naruto sleep peacefully in his small cradle close by. His father had not wanted to let the days-old infant out of his sight, which Sakura thought was sweet and a little sad.

"…strengthen the spiritual aspect of it… good geometry…" the Yondaime was muttering as she turned her attention back to him. He was looking at a sheet of paper nearly indecipherable with the amount of writing on it.

Sakura sighed, feeling bored. There wasn't much to do when one was a fox, and cooped up in the Hokage's office. She looked down at the desk and all the papers strewn across it. She did have to count her lucky stars, though. The way she understood it, foxes didn't have the ability to focus clearly on written words, their eyesight being generally tuned to detecting movement and not picking out little squiggles on paper. But she could read the Yondaime's notes—or at least could see well enough to know he had atrocious handwriting. Her eyesight was as good as a human's. The only changes to her eyes were the shape of her pupils and her night vision, which was better now as a fox than it had ever been as a human.

She was very thankful for this. It would have been incomprehensibly more difficult to deal with this if she was stuck in a body that was fox-like in every aspect. This small measure of humanity that had snuck into her new body's physiology made it easier to cope.

…Although, the lack of opposable thumbs was beginning to become irritating.

Someone was approaching the door to the office. She could sense him or her. She sniffed delicately. The instinctual part of her mind knew how to interpret what she was smelling even if she didn't really understand how. The newcomer was male, and smelled faintly like toads, ink, and soap.

_:Jiraiya,: _Sakura thought. It had to be. The ink would be from the fact that he was a Seal Master, as well as a… well, '_author_'. Toads because he was the Toad Sage. And soap for obvious reasons.

Sakura yipped, and put a paw on the paper the Yondaime was studying; he looked up just as the door to the office opened. The very tips of Jiraiya's mane of white hair brushed the top of the doorframe as he entered.

"Forget how to knock, sensei?" the Yondaime asked, but there was no rancor in it, only a gladness to see the older man. He stood as Jiraiya came closer.

Jiraiya stopped a foot away from the Yondaime, and searched the blond's face solemnly. His voice, when he spoke, was gentle. "I heard about Kushina-chan."

Sakura felt a pang of pity for the Yondaime, whose face went bone-white at the mention of his late wife. He took a shuddering breath. "Yes."

His voice was small. Jiraiya reached out and put a comforting hand on his student's shoulder, squeezing slightly. The Yondaime looked into Jiraiya's face, met his gaze. The Toad Sage didn't say anything, but evidently, the look was enough. The Yondaime looked down briefly, closing his eyes as a couple tears escaped. He took two deep breaths, and then looked up, calmer. "It's good to see you, sensei."

His smile was crooked, but it released the tension in the room. Jiraiya visibly relaxed, stepping back and crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's good to see you, too, Minato," he said pleasantly. Too pleasantly. "Especially since, the way I heard it, you fully intended to be dead right about now."

"Ah…" said the Yondaime—_Minato! His name was Minato!_—nervously. His hand rose to rub the back of his head and Sakura tried to ignore how very like Naruto he appeared at the moment. "I didn't have much choice…"

"Except you obviously did, considering the fact that you're still alive now," pointed out Jiraiya. Minato's face clouded, and his chastened nervousness faded.

"Yes… That's why I asked for you to come back," he told Jiraiya, who took note of the shift in mood.

For all that he was an incorrigible pervert and a man of questionable morals, Jiraiya was sharp, and a good shinobi. He dropped his personal feelings and assumed an air of professionalism Sakura had only witnessed in him once before. She saw his gaze flick briefly to her, but he obviously believed that his student, the Yondaime, knew what he was doing with a fox on his desk, because he didn't say anything.

"You said in your message that you wanted my opinion on the seal," Jiraiya said. Minato nodded.

"It seems to be working as well as we might wish, but…" he hesitated, and glanced at Sakura, who was seated prettily on her haunches again, tail laid over her paws. She gave him the fox equivalent of a smile, trying to show him she took no offense. "But the origin of the new seal is… unknown."

Jiraiya had not missed the exchange, and he looked shrewdly from fox to Hokage. "Maybe you should tell me everything, from the beginning."

So Minato did. And when he was done, Jiraiya was staring at Sakura with a very thoughtful look on his face.

"So you're the kunoichi, eh?" he asked her, and reached out a hand like he would pet her. She'd been on the receiving end of his amorous attentions before, back in her time when she was a med-nin and Tsunade's apprentice. He'd never done more than pat her bottom in a sort of absent, fond way, but she'd done her best to discourage it on the grounds that she didn't want the rest of her coworkers and patients to get any ideas. It had become a sort of teasing game, with Jiraiya trying to get past her defenses and her fending him off with threats and a few well-placed fists. So she responded automatically when she saw his hand drawing near. Her body translated it into a foxy movement. Her teeth snapped at his approaching fingers, and he twitched back in surprise.

"You should know better than to touch a pretty girl without her consent," Minato said, sounding like he was repressing his amusement. Jiraiya shot him a dirty look, and then eyed Sakura. She flicked her tail and barked at him.

"No respect," he muttered. Minato stepped up and offered his fingers to Sakura. She rubbed her face against them lightly.

"I think I've figured out how the seal accomplished what it did, but I haven't figured out why it turned her into a fox," the Yondaime admitted. "The way it looks is that the Kyuubi's spiritual chakra was sealed in Naruto, the same as it would have been had I used the _Shiki Fuujin_."

"You got a copy of the array she used, right? Let me see it," Jiraiya said, taking Minato's lead and offering his fingers politely to Sakura. She sniffed them, memorizing his scent. As a reprimand for his earlier lack of manners, she nipped him gently. Then allowed him to rub her ears. He did so softly, perhaps as an apology. He withdrew his hand when Minato pulled out a large piece of paper and spread it on top of the mess on the desk.

The Hokage had copied Sakura's seal array from memory, perfectly. She was a little awed by that, considering he must have only seen it for a few short seconds and then under extremely extenuating circumstances. It was a testament to his prowess that he'd been able to memorize it like that.

Jiraiya leaned over it, tracing the lines with his eyes, piecing together each element and analyzing the array's composition. "Ah, I see… Interesting. A soul division coupled with… dissolution, and sealing? And diverted through a medium to… Ah."

Jiraiya looked at Sakura, who was standing now and looking at the array clinically, reviewing her work. "You used yourself as a conduit, didn't you? The array sealed the Kyuubi's spiritual chakra inside Naruto, but the rest you diverted through your body and into the ground. Like a lightning rod. The earth acted as an energy sink, and the rest of the Kyuubi's chakra dispersed into it after flowing through you."

He paused and eyed the array again and jabbed a finger at one section. "If she hadn't added this element, Minato, she would have been fried to a crisp by all that power. As it is…"

"The earth is such a large sink, even compared to the amount of the Kyuubi's power," Minato said. "And all energy returns to the earth eventually, so the Kyuubi's physical chakra shouldn't come back. It's just part of the earth's energy now."

"True," Jiraiya said. "The seal looks solid. And isn't this bit a variation on that theory you've been working on?"

"Yes," Minato admitted. "It looks like it."

"Where did you learn sealing, little fox?" Jiraiya murmured, looking at Sakura. "I would very much like to meet your teacher."

_:You wouldn't believe me if I told you,: _Sakura thought. Tsunade had been her sort-of teacher, but in this time she was still stricken with her hemophobia and wandering the countryside purposelessly. A lot of the material Sakura had read in her study of _Fuuinjutsu _had been written by the Yondaime and Jiraiya themselves, but in this time many of those writings hadn't been completed or, in some cases, even written yet.

She blinked at him and placidly waved her tail. Jiraiya shook his head and went back to the array.

"I see what you did with the Kyuubi's spiritual and physical chakra, but what did you do with its natural chakra?"

Sakura stared. Minato stared.

Then they both cursed. Or rather, Minato cursed and Sakura wailed in a high fox voice.

_:I can't believe I forgot natural chakra!: _Her ears were flat against her head. :_Damn!:_

When most students are taught about chakra, they are told there are two kinds in every creature: spiritual chakra, derived from the soul, and physical chakra, derived from the body. But that is sort of simplifying matters. There is also a third type, which can be drawn from one's surroundings—natural chakra. Jiraiya would of course be familiar with this type of energy, since he was a Toad Sage and utilized it to reach Sage Mode. Sakura and Minato, both of whom were not Sages, were not familiar with natural chakra, and had actually forgotten its existence entirely.

"I thought that might be the problem," Jiraiya said prosaically. "The Kyuubi does have natural chakra of its own. It is, of course, a force of nature itself. I expect that the little lady's current predicament to be a result of this."


	10. Erase

_TH: Okay, so right now giving Sakura her own abilities back is winning. I'm going to leave the poll up until Tuesday (so you'll all have a full week to vote). If you haven't (if you care), go to my profile and _**VOTE ON YOUR CHOICE**_._

_Here's more explanation of the circumstances of the seal and natural chakra craziness. I think it'll answer most of the questions you guys had. If not, you can ask in your review and I'll probably pm you an answer._

_As always, I appreciate your feedback!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

**Theme: Erase**

* * *

Naruto had described his Sage training to Sakura once. "It was okay. I had to sit around a long time without moving, though. It was annoying!"

After Sakura had whacked him on the back of his head, he'd grinned and really told her what it had been like. The well of toad oil, the meditation, the gathering natural chakra… the threat of turning into a toad statue if he didn't balance the natural chakra with his physical and spiritual energies.

Probably, Sakura should have remembered that particular bit of information when she was writing the array for the Kyuubi's seal. But now, thanks to forgetting the unique properties of natural chakra, she was a fox.

Her seal's intent had been to split the Kyuubi's chakra in two, like the Yondaime's original _Shiki Fuujin_ would have, and to seal only the spiritual chakra into the host. The other half of the chakra—the physical, would have been diverted through her body and into the ground, thereby neutralizing it. Had Minato used the _Shiki Fuujin_, the physical chakra would have been sealed in the Death God's stomach… along with Minato's soul. Sakura had thought her way was better. And it had been, for the most part. Except…

She hadn't added anything to her seal array to account for the natural chakra. After the seal divided the Kyuubi's soul, dissolving its corporeal form, there would have been nothing left to maintain the chakra, no vessel to hold the power. There would therefor have been only a couple options for where the natural chakra could go. Since she didn't specify what should happen to it, it could have just been chaotically released. That is to say, ripped from the Kyuubi and given no path elsewhere, it would have dispersed into the surroundings in an uncontrolled manner. In a word, exploded.

It could not have followed the spiritual chakra into Naruto, because she had specified that only the spiritual chakra could be diverted through that path. However, she had not specified what could be diverted through _her_. The natural chakra, obviously, had followed the physical chakra into her. It could have remained in her body, but the presence of natural chakra was very noticeable in that high of a concentration. If it hadn't outright _killed _her—and she suspected that the effect of becoming a vessel for the Kyuubi's natural chakra would have been akin to swallowing the sun, which is to say immediately immolating—Sakura would have sensed it as soon as she'd delved inside herself to locate her chakra. And she hadn't. And Minato hadn't noticed anything unusual about her chakra signature. Nor had Jiraiya. Ergo, the natural chakra must have followed its physical counterpart all the way down the path Sakura's seal had drawn for it. But, even though the natural chakra had not stayed in her body, and had merely passed through before entering and dispersing through the ground, the influence it had exerted on her had changed her. It was irreversible. Like if Naruto had turned into a toad during his training—that would have been the end, there would have been no turning back. Her situation was the same.

The human, seventeen year old Sakura who had been taught by Hatake Kakashi and Senju Tsunade, the Sakura who had been a member of Team Seven… she had been erased. In her place was now a fox-formed time-traveler who was stuck in the past.

It was not, needless to say, a happy concept to consider.


	11. Soft

_TH: And the winner is... Sakura gets her own abilities! She will (eventually) be able to do the things she could do as a human, once she's relearned how to use her 'screwy-because-she-was-turned-into-a-fox' chakra and figured out how to get around handseals. Thanks for voting!_

_Also, silly Minato and silly Sakura. Why didn't you think of that? Okay, okay, I guess you were a little preoccupied..._

_Thanks for everyone's comments, they are much appreciated._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

**Theme: Soft**

* * *

'In shock' would be an apt description of Sakura's mental status. Alternatively, 'in extreme distress' would work. But she was going to pick one word to describe how she was feeling after finding out that she was trapped here, in his body, forever it would be: damn-it-all-I'm-stuck-in-this-body-forever-oh-shit-what-if-I'm-also-stuck-with-a-fox's-natural-life-span?

…Okay, maybe she cheated a little on that, with the hyphens. But the sentiment was there.

She sat down hard, staring blankly into empty space. Dimly she heard Minato, asking desperately: "There's nothing we can do? Nothing? What about…"

"Minato," Jiraiya said gently.

"What about a mass re-conformation seal, with a—"

"_Minato_."

"—sustained-draw coupling and—"

"MINATO," Jiraiya's firm interjection cut the Yondaime off. Minato winced and looked at his sensei, a little guiltily. "There is _nothing_ we can do. Attempting would just make things worse. The is no power in the world that can undo what natural chakra has wrought."

Minato looked at Sakura with a rather pained expression, and the thought slowly trickled through her numb mind that he felt it was partially his fault she'd ended up like this. Stupid spiky-headed blond. He was just like Naruto.

Sakura had never liked it when Naruto beat himself up over things that weren't his fault. Damned if she was going to let his father do the same thing.

Galvanized out of her own melancholy, she jumped down from the desk, went up to Minato, and reached up to pat his leg with her front paws.

_"It's okay, really, it's fine. I'm alive, right? And you're alive, and now Naruto has a father, and that's great, and it's all I need. This life is better than what I left behind, trust me!"_ she tried to say, but it all came out as a soft churring sound, like a purr almost. The sound of a fox trying to comfort another.

Sakura wished she could speak, for the nth time.

Still, it seemed she could get her point across, because the Yondaime knelt and stroked her ears. Funny. He knew she was a person, had a human mind, but he still petted her like any other cute fuzzy animal. Not that she minded—she understood, now why pets shoved their heads into their people's hands. Petting felt good. Like a massage.

She yipped, and put a paw on his knee.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "Yeah, okay. I get it."

"You know," Jiraiya said slowly, watching. "I wonder…"

Sakura and Minato looked up at him as the Toad Sage strode over to the desk and started riffling around in it.

"Please, by all means, help yourself," Minato said sardonically. Jiraiya ignored him, and opened another drawer.

"Ah. Here!" And the Toad Sage laid out a large piece of paper and a wide-mouthed ink pot on the ground in front of Sakura. "No speech? Then write."

Sakura stared for a beat, and then barked happily, bounced in place, rubbed against Jiraiya's shins like a cat, and sat down in front of the paper, tongue lolling.

"Good idea, sensei," Minato said, excitedly. He leaned forward, toward the paper.

_:Why didn't I think of this earlier?! Writing! I could write what I want to say!: _Sakura let her fox instincts translate her happiness into a purr. _:I should probably use my paw… my tail's more brush-like, but it doesn't have the same control of motion that my paws do.:_

She delicately stood over the paper, dipped a paw into the ink, blotted the big drips off against the edge of the pot, and started.

The characters were blocky, large, and somewhat shaky, but they were clear enough. She wrote out what she wanted to say first very slowly, carefully. Her fox limb didn't have the same articulation as her human arm would have, so she had to make some strokes differently.

Finally, she sat back.

Minato and Jiraiya leaned forward, and together read: "It's not your damned fault, Hokage-sama."

Minato blinked.

Jiraiya burst out laughing.

"She sure pegged you!" he hooted. "Ah, and you were all ready to take on the guilt, weren't you!"

"Funny," Minato said, mouth pulling down into a little moue. But there was humor in his eyes, so he wasn't really upset. He looked at her. "The first thing you can say, and this is it?"

She inked her paw again. "It was important. Not your fault I'm a fox."

Minato smiled slightly. "Thank you."

His expression brightened, then, and he said: "Oh, hey! You can tell us your name now!"

_:Er…: _Sakura paused. Could she give them her name? Minato had seen her human form, if briefly, and pink hair wasn't so common. It was possible that Minato would eventually make a connection between her and _this _time's Sakura.

Maybe she could just pass if off as parents being particularly uninspired in their baby-naming. Her name seemed to be the only thing she'd kept from her previous life, besides the memories, and she didn't really want to give it up.

With a bit of a mental shrug, she wrote: "Sakura."

"Sakura, huh? No clan name?" Jiraiya wanted to know.

She shook her head 'no.' Wrote: "Alone."

"Ah," Jiraiya said, watching her. His sharp eyes might have made her nervous, but it was _Jiraiya_, and what she'd said was essentially truth. In this time, she was alone. He would find no reason to doubt her word. On this, anyway. If he started asking awkward questions, she might be forced to… bend truth a little.

"Sakura-san. Thank you for what you did with the seal," the Yondaime said, solemnly. Sakura turned her head to meet his blue gaze with her green one. He looked at her with all the gravity of his office. "However, I do have to ask you: Do you intend Konoha or its people any harm?"

Sakura's ears went back, an instinctual reaction to the flash of indignation she felt. They flicked forward again almost immediately; she knew he had to ask. He had to make sure. Still, it hurt a little to be mistrusted.

She wrote, with a firm paw: "I will never bring harm to Konoha or any of its loyal people."

"Can we be sure of her word?" Jiraiya murmured to Minato, sotto voce. Sakura, with her sharp fox hearing, caught the words. She growled a little, so low the humans couldn't hear.

She lifted her paw, hesitated at the thick black ink on it, and switched to the other paw. Biting the pad so that blood flowed, she put paw to paper again.

"By my blood and by my blade, I will fight to protect my Village of Konohagakure, its people, and my comrades. Should that cost me my life, I will gladly pay the price. This I do swear."

She called Jiraiya and Minato's attention to it with one sharp bark. They turned from their whispered discussion, and looked at her writing. They blinked a few times.

"Tha-that's the Oath, Konoha's ninja oath," Minato said.

"Written in blood…" Jiraiya murmured. "That hasn't been done since the time of the Shodai Hokage. Now, it's just spoken words."

Minato chuckled. "She's trying to send us a message. I think it says: 'trust me.'"


	12. Bloom

_TH: Nnnngghh. I want to sleep for about 12 more hours._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

**Theme: Bloom**

* * *

Sakura could see that Minato was beginning to believe in her. Jiraiya was still a little hesitant, but perhaps that was because he was more distant from the situation. Minato had shared the sealing with her—being bound by the seal array, he would have felt the energy that had poured through Sakura into the ground, and he would have known that she could have easily died from it. He knew she'd risked her life in the sealing. Knew, also, that his life had been saved by her alterations to the seal. And he'd been in close contact with her since the sealing event, watching her. He'd seen her struggling with her new body, and had seen her calmly—if impatiently—waiting for the Seal Master to arrive, to check her work. Not really things that someone would do, were they an enemy of Konoha. Trust, or something like it, had flowered in that time.

Jiraiya had not seen any of these things. And he was distrustful of everybody, now, having already experienced the betrayal of his Teammate, Orochimaru. After you are betrayed by someone that close, you tend not to trust _anybody_. Especially not a strange girl-turned-fox, to whom nobody could put an identity.

She couldn't blame him.

"I think we should have her interrogated," Jiraiya told Minato firmly.

Her ears flickered. Interrogated. That meant the Torture and Interrogation Force. She shivered a little.

Sakura might not constitute any kind of threat toward Konoha, and she might be perfectly cognizant of that fact, but she was still uncomfortable about the prospect. Let's face it: the 'Torture and Interrogation Force' was hardly a collection of bright and fuzzy words… excepting, of course, 'and.'

Fear skirled down her spine. Would they use Yamanaka Inoichi's mind-walk ability? Would that even work on her? She'd discovered, through her friendship with Ino, that she had an inherent resistance to the Clan's Mind-Body Technique, of which Inoichi's technique was a variation.

Shit. What if she _was _immune, and that very fact made them think she was a threat?

Aaaah, but if she _wasn't _immune, they might very well discover that she was a time-traveler. That wouldn't be good, either. Every instinct she had—human, fox, ninja, whatever—was screaming at her that it would be a bad idea for that little fact to become known. She hardly knew who might learn of it, and what they might do with that information. She could think of a dozen evil minds that might find the possibility of… harvesting… her knowledge to be very tempting.

Either way this went, Sakura had a bad feeling about it.


	13. Judge

_TH: Nothing much to say. Except, I couldn't find any indication of when Inoichi served on T&I, so I took some artistic license._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Theme: Judge**

* * *

Minato had sent for the top interrogators from the T&I Force to come to his office, but it would take a little while for the summons to reach the Force's… 'offices'… and longer for the ninja to arrive at the Hokage's. Minato and Jiraiya were taking advantage of the time to introduce the Toad Sage to his godson.

Had Sakura not been twitchy with nerves, she probably would have been melting over the way the two grown, battle-hardened shinobi cooed over baby Naruto. But she was. Twitchy. How could she not be? Whatever was to come would, like as not, be uncomfortable.

Interrogation. Hell. No matter how convinced you were of your innocence, being interrogated would make your heart pound.

A loud rap on the door echoed the patter of Sakura's little fox heart, and made her fur fluff. Minato turned away from Jiraiya, who was carefully cradling Naruto in his arms, and said: "Enter."

The door opened as Sakura tried to convince herself that running away would be a very bad idea.

Surprise and confusion made her fright disappear momentarily, because she didn't immediately recognize the three men who came into the room. The first two were definitely shinobi she had never seen before. They were both middle-aged, and well-worn, like they had seen it all.

Of course, Sakura wouldn't have been surprised if they _had _seen it all; they looked to be of the generation that had, by now, seen two Shinobi Wars _and_ the Kyuubi Attack.

But really, it was the third member of their number that nearly made her jaw drop.

A very obviously young Morino Ibiki followed his two superiors into the Hokage's office, his _hitai-ate _tied around his head as Sakura was accustomed to seeing it. But… there was _hair _poking out from under the cloth. Short brown hair. And there were fewer scars decorating Ibiki's face than when Sakura had last seen him… quite a few years in the future.

Once again, the fact that she was not where—_when—_she should be hit Sakura like a right-hook from Tsunade. She hadn't been thinking, again. She'd expected everything to be like it was when she'd been alive—despite obvious evidence that it wouldn't be. She'd expected Yamanaka Inoichi to be one of the interrogators called upon today, but it was only now, faced with his absence, that she really thought about it and realized that he would only be in his early twenties, now in this time. He might not have even developed the unique version of his Clan's Mind-Body Jutsu that had earned him such a high place in the T&I Force, yet. She'd expected Ibiki, but while he _was_ an interrogator, he was so _young_. It was another shock in a long line of them.

"Ah. Kurabi-san, Juyin-san, Morino-san. Thank you for coming so quickly," Minato greeted.

"Hokage-sama," acknowledged one of the men—either Kurabi or Juyin, Sakura didn't know which, though one had a beard—solemnly. "You message said you had a subject for interrogation?"

Straight to the point, and professional. Yes, it was clear that Morino Ibiki was not yet the Head of Torture and Interrogation, but it was also abundantly clear that the Force wasn't any weaker for the difference.

"Yes," Minato replied presently. He launched into a speech that had a distinct bureaucratic formality to it. He warned them of the classified nature of the issue, then briefed them on what exactly had happened during the Kyuubi sealing, and then had them swear to hold the information classified. Once all that red tape had been cleared, Minato stepped away, and Sakura found herself under sharp scrutiny.

She tried not to cower into the desk. It was a near thing; she realized just how much rode on how these three men perceived her.

_:Judge, jury, and executioner,: _she thought uneasily, looking between the three of them. _:Or some combination there-of. What's it going to be?:_


	14. Free

_TH: Thanks for the reviews, as usual._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Theme: Free**

* * *

"I would appreciate it," Minato drawled a little wryly, "if you didn't damage her, Kurabi-san. Since waking up after the sealing event, she has had plenty of opportunities to harm me, as well as many other important persons who have entered this office. And obviously hasn't acted upon those chances."

"That may be true, but it may also be a ruse," said Beardy—Kurabi-san. "It's a common tactic to lull one's target into a false sense of security."

"Yes," Minato allowed. "That's what I'd like you to check on. Make sure she is telling the truth when she says she won't bring harm to Konoha or its people."

"Just a standard questioning?" inquired Juyin. Minato nodded.

That might have reassured Sakura, had she known what a 'standard questioning' entailed. Still, she wanted to prove herself, and so when Kurabi, Juyin, and Ibiki stepped toward her, she held still.

"Do you understand me?" asked Kurabi. Though the Hokage had informed them that she did understand human speech, the question had a scripted sound to it. This was the start of the interrogation.

Sakura nodded firmly.

"Good," Kurabi said. He turned to Juyin. "Do it."

Juyin formed some handseals, and Sakura felt a cloak of chakra settle over her. She blinked, and the Hokage's office vanished, replaced with an all-white environment that didn't even seem to have a defined up-and-down orientation.

"Speak," commanded Juyin. Sakura startled.  
"What, me?" she asked automatically, and was surprised when it was words that came out instead of barks and yips. She lifted her hands and found that they _were _hands, human ones, not paws. For one brief, wild moment, she thought that the jutsu had turned her back into a human, but logic reinstated itself and reminded her that that was impossible. She wondered instead if they were in her mindscape, where her concept of self would manifest her consciousness in human form.

"I heard you. Good, that means that this jutsu will work on you even as you are," he said. "This is what is called a Truth Chamber Jutsu. It is hooked to you, mind and body. Within its construct, you can hear my questions, and, since its realm of existence transcends the mere physical world, you can answer in human words. I would advise you to be entirely truthful in your answers; the Chamber judges your honesty using cues from your thoughts and physical reactions. If it finds that you are lying, there will be consequences."

Looking around the empty brightness of the jutsu, Sakura gulped. Even more ominous than utter darkness, the unrelieved whiteness made her feel as if she were under a dissecting scope. Vulnerable, under observation…

"Do you understand?" Juyin asked. Sakura nodded. There was a moment of silence, and then he demanded: "Speak!"

"Sorry!" squeaked Sakura. He must not be able to see her, only hear her. "Sorry! Yes, I understand!"

"Very well." He sounded grumpy. Sakura wondered if he was really angry at her, or if it was a strategy. She knew some basics of interrogation. One of the techniques was to act upset and angry at the target. It could make them feel more inclined to cooperate with you, your grumpiness setting off a psychological response in them to make them want to disarm your anger.

_:Stop analyzing his methods and just answer his questions!: _she scolded herself.

"We will begin now," warned Juyin's stern voice.

"Yes," Sakura replied nervously.

"You gave your name as simply 'Sakura.' True?"

"True."

"Is this your real name?"

"…Yes."

"Where do you come from, Sakura?"

"I… I was born in Konoha," Sakura responded hesitantly. There was a pause, presumably as Juyin considered her answer and the jutsu's reaction to it. It was the truth, though, and the Chamber reflected that.

"Are you a ninja?" Juyin asked at length.

"I was trained as a medic-nin, and have also studied _Fuuinjutsu_."

"Under what Village were you trained?"

Ut oh. She couldn't say Konoha, because there were no records of her existing here. But she also couldn't say anywhere else, because that would only cause her more problems. There was only one thing to do.

"I… I would rather not say," she whispered, hoping the answer wouldn't earn her a swift death. Or, really, any sort of death whatsoever.

"You refuse to say?" Juyin said forbiddingly. Sakura swallowed convulsively.

"I-I-I…" she stammered. "I really can't say…"

"I see." There was a pause, and Sakura thought that maybe he was consulting with the others in the office as to where to go from there. Press the question, or move on?

"We will come back to that particular question," Juyin promised (or threatened) after a moment. "But for now, we will move on. Did you alter the seal array that Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure, was intending to use to seal away the Kyuubi no Youko?"

Sakura licked her lips. "I did."

There was a longer pause this time, then: "Why?"

Sakura blinked. That sounded more like a question Minato would ask. Maybe he was passing questions through Juyin? "Well, I… I saw that the seal he was going to use would have killed him… and I could see how he could write it so that it didn't… So I rewrote it for him."

"Where did you learn _Fuuinjutsu_?"

And there was a Jiraiya question. They were definitely adding in questions of their own, through Juyin. Sakura carefully crafted her answer. "I studied seals made by the Legendary Sannin, as well as those made by Konoha's Yellow Flash."

No lies, there, but a very careful misdirection. It was entirely acceptable that she would have had the opportunity to look at seals either made personally by them or simply designed by them and executed by others—once a technique was used, it became common knowledge within ninja information networks, unless it had been used under completely secure conditions. But the Sannin, and Minato, had been to war, and had gone on countless missions besides. It was inevitable that their _Fuuinjutsu_ techniques had been observed, recorded, and passed on.

Sakura didn't have to elaborate that she had studied those seals in scrolls and books in Konoha's own library. She just gave them the bare bones of truth and let them assume as they wished.

"Very well." Juyin said. "Are you an enemy of Konoha or its interests?"

"No! I'm not an enemy!" The answer burst from Sakura, her pride pricked even though she'd anticipated the question.

"Do you freely and truthfully aver and affirm that you, Sakura, hold no hostility toward the Hidden Village of Konoha, or its peoples?"

"I do." She spoke the words instantly, and meant them wholly. But immediately after, a thought occurred to her: What if Orochimaru was still in the Village? Or Mizuki, the Academy-teacher-turned-_nukenin_? Did they count? She hastened to add: "I will not harm a loyal citizen or ninja of Konoha."

There was a longer pause after this, and Sakura fidgeted a little, hoping her wording hadn't sent up red flags. But, at length, Juyin said: "Very well. We are finished here."

And Sakura blinked, and was back in her four-footed, red-furred form, sitting on the Hokage's desk.


	15. Family

_TH: I have a problem set due today for which I had to learn how to use two computing programs, one of which required that I learn bash command code. I also had to read three papers for one question, and had to bust out my algebra after not having to use it for five years. I spent an inordinate amount of time working on this assignment. Why do I say this? Because it meant I didn't get to write for the last week, and I'm grumpy for it. Make me feel better?_

_In case you are wondering, the fact that I didn't get to write doesn't mean there'll be delays in the next chapters. I have up to 26 written already, so don't worry. I'm trying really hard to stay ahead._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Theme: Family**

* * *

Sakura had decided she wanted to be a ninja at the age of four—two years before she could enroll in the Academy. Neither of her parents were ninja, nor did they come from ninja families. Sakura's favorite uncle had been the family's first ever ninja. He had reached the level of Tokubetsu Jounin before he was killed in action.

Like a fair number of ninja off duty, Waya-jisan pursued life's pleasures exuberantly, as if he could offset the profession's danger and low life-expectancy by living as ferociously as he could. He played with little Sakura as if he were a child himself, and laughed without reservation when his shiny _hitai-ate _had proved utterly fascinating for the little girl. Sakura still remembered his brightly smiling face… the face of the man who had first interested her in ninja.

She hadn't connected his sudden death with the profession. She was too young to really think about it. By the time she realized that Waya-jisan had died directly because he was a ninja, she had gone through three years of Academy training, and had developed other reasons for pursuing the path. Besides, _she _wouldn't be killed in action. She was far too young and pretty, even if she did have a big forehead.

…It was another few years before she realized that death came even for the young and beautiful. But, again, by then she had developed new, even more binding, reasons for becoming (and staying) a ninja.

By the time she had reached her seventeenth year of life, her comrades had become her family, and her status as a kunoichi, as a med-nin, had become so integral to who she was that she could not even imagine being anything else.

It was no surprise, then, that as soon as her innocence had been proven, she was asking the Hokage if she might be instated as a Konoha ninja.


	16. Teacher

_TH: Evidently there's going to be a Naruto movie with alternate universes as a plot point. Hopefully it won't suck like the time-travel one... Lost Tower. I was SO disappointed in that one. In the words of another author on this site (can't remember exactly which one): Not even Minato's sexy voice could save it. Time travel and alternate universes give so much promise to plots, but Lost Tower dropped the ball. I'm still going to watch the Road to Ninja, though. Because it might be fun. Anyway my point was that someone mentioned that Sakura's parents are supposed to make an appearance, in the movie and in the anime episode that acts as a sort of teaser. Evidently, they are ninja. Which strikes me as kind of stupid, and it's glaringly obvious that it was decision made on the fly. It doesn't quite fit with the image of Sakura we're given throughout the series. But anyway, it doesn't matter in terms of this story because it is anime filler and movie, which I regard as amusement and not even close to canon. Not that I write stories super faithful to canon, anyway. There's a reason this is called fanfiction._

_EDIT: Had a review that wondered why I thought the above implausible, stating that "Ino was just as much a fangirl and unprepared for life as a ninja as sakura, and she was a clan heir!" It was a guest review so I couldn't address it in a PM, but I did want to address it. First, Ino isn't actually ever stated to be the Yamanaka clan heir. Inoichi, her father, is only presumed by fans to be Head. It isn't canon. Also, the rest isn't true. Ino was much better prepared. She knew and was very good at all her clan's special ninjutsu, and Asuma even states that she's an exceptional ninja. She apparently graduated top of the class alongside Sasuke and Shino, according to the Naruto wiki. And if Naruto hadn't been at Sakura and Ino's Chuunin exam fight, Sakura admits that Ino would have won. I state that it seems implausible that Sakura's parents were ninja because we never see them fighting at any point, and Sakura never expresses concern about them fighting at any point. Not even in the Fourth Shinobi War, when we see everyone else. Her parents have also apparently never taught her any ninjutsu, because she didn't know anything that wasn't taught in the Academy, which seems implausible. Even if they didn't have any clan-specific jutsu, I would have expected them to teach her something. Or else they just wanted her to die. It just seems... off, that they were ninja. It seems like Kishimoto never intended them to be, but just pulled it out of thin air for the sake of the movie._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Theme: Teacher**

* * *

Sakura's position was… interesting. The Yondaime had classified the events of October 10th Above-S-Class. Which meant that the number of people who knew the true events of October 10th were very few and very far between. The number of people who knew that the Hokage's pet fox had once been human could be counted on two hands, and even then, the counter didn't necessarily have to possess the full complement of fingers.

How, then, was he supposed to explain to one of his ninja Teams that he wanted them to work with what was, at first glance, an animal? How was he supposed to explain to the forces of Konoha that their new comrade was a little furry but not to let that color their opinion of her?

Ha.

But Sakura proved determined in terms of joining the ranks of the Leaf-nin. So, Minato bent his mind to the task of solving the problem.

The solution he came up with was, as so many of his creations were, elegant.

Although Sakura was fox in form, there were plenty of ninja who worked with animals as partners. The Inuzuka, for example, were a Clan of ninja with deep bonds with _ninken_. The Aburame cultivated their _kikaichuu _colonies for an array of uses, and could, after a fashion, communicate with the insects. And that isn't even touching on the subject of the _kuchiyose_ _no jutsu_. There was an untold number of summon animals and contracts out there. It seemed almost like every established ninja family had a summons, and strong ties to the creature associated with the contract.

It would therefore be entirely acceptable for them to put out the appearance that Sakura was an animal summon. It would preemptively answer any questions that might rise as to her intelligence and abilities. It was well known that ninja animals rose above their common peers.

The question, then, was with whom would she pair? The ninja with whom she would work as a 'summon' would have to be apprised of the true conditions of their partnership—that is, he or she would have to be cleared Above-S-Class and be briefed on who (what) Sakura really was, and what really happened on October 10th.

So, pretty much, their choices were narrow. There weren't many ninja who even knew that a classification higher than S-Class _existed_, let alone had clearance for it.

Minato closed his eyes and leaned back as he composed his mental list, and Sakura took a moment to wonder who could possibly have such a high clearance level, besides the Hokage himself. The Captain of ANBU, surely, and maybe some agents within the organization… The Clan Heads? No… at least, not all of them. Some of the Council, perhaps?

"Well," Minato said slowly, eyes opening. "I can think of three compatible ninja. But I think the best would be an old student of mine…"

The thought of who it might be zinged through Sakura like an electric jolt. Could he mean…?

"He is an elite ninja, and has experience working with canid summons. He's cleared Above-S-Class, and I trust him implicitly."

Sakura forced herself to sit still, and not to leap with joy, certain that she knew of whom the Yondaime spoke.

He gave her a small grin. "You may have heard of him. The Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi."

_:Kakashi-sensei!:_


	17. Backstory

_TH: This chapter is not canon compliant, because I wrote it before all that stuff went down. I'm not going to change it. Why? Because the things that are non-canon are things that all have to do with the Masked Man's real identity, which I take issue with in the manga and began this story not knowing. Madara is Madara in this fic, so the plot points that deal with (trying) to explain his actual identity aren't necessary here. Make sense?_

_EDIT: Oh yeah, forgot to mention. Some of you express confusion/skepticism about the two-contract thing. You CAN have two summons contracts- Sasuke can, in the manga, summon both snakes and hawks._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Theme: Backstory**

* * *

It had taken Kakashi the better part of five years to finally tell his (remaining) students the story behind his Sharingan eye, and his attitude. The events that had taken place in his life were highly personal, and so very emotionally charged that he did not easily revisit them. But Team Seven had become important to him in ways and a degree to which he had not expected. So he made the effort to tell them all.

It was with this deep understanding of her sensei that she looked upon Kakashi now, trying to see if anything of _her _Kakashi was in _this _Kakashi. She knew vaguely the timeline of the events in his life that had shaped him. So she knew that his mother was dead, his father the White Fang had already committed _seppuku_, Obito had already died and given him the Sharingan, and he had joined ANBU.

However, his sensei, Minato, was still alive, which was a very important influence on Kakashi's persona. And Sakura wasn't sure if Rin was still alive or not.

…But, to judge by the weary look in Kakashi's visible eye when he reported in to the Hokage, Sakura rather thought not. She felt a moment of regret. Kakashi had been hurt enough in his life; she wished she could have saved him that pain. But she _had _saved him the pain of losing his mentor and Hokage, so that would have to be enough.

"Rin died, sensei," was Kakashi's greeting. "She went to the frontline of the Kyuubi attack to extract the injured, and a building collapsed on her."

Sakura withheld her flinch. Kakashi had told them that Rin had died while trying to save an elderly couple from their collapsing house, but he had left out the part about it occurring during the Kyuubi's attack on the Village. She wondered if maybe he'd neglected to add that bit of information for Naruto's sake, so the blond wouldn't blame himself. Sometimes Naruto himself forgot that he was only a host for the Fox, and not the Fox itself.

Minato's expression had softened with empathy. "I know," he said softly. "I saw her name on the roll of casualties."

Kakashi turned his face away, presenting a profile hidden by mask and _hitai-ate_. He was silent a moment, and Minato waited. At length, Kakashi looked back to the Hokage, and his visible grey eye went to the fox on the desk.

Sakura waved her tail at him, keeping the motion friendly, but subdued in deference of his grief.

"I heard rumors that you had found yourself an unusual companion after the Kyuubi attack," he told his sensei. It was impossible to tell from the tone how he felt about it.

"Sakura was a great help to me during the battle," Minato said mildly. "A pity she had to pay for it this way."

Kakashi's eye moved to the blond. "Oh?"

Apparently, Kakashi was already well-versed in the art of packing massive meaning into single syllables. Minato made a little gesture.

"Hatake Kakashi, what I am about to impart to you is classified Above-S-Class. Do you understand, and do you accept the implications of the fact?"

Kakashi's body lost a little of the lackadaisical slouch, straightening and tensing in interest. "I understand and accept."

And Sakura watched as the Hokage started to tell her story once more.


	18. Collaboration

_TH: Hi all. I don't have much to say right now. Um, someone asked if there will be timeskips... I'm not sure yet. Haven't gotten to that point. All things considered, it is likely._

_Please read and review!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Theme: Collaboration**

* * *

Sometimes Teammates become close enough to each other—or at least familiar enough with working together—that speech becomes unnecessary for them; they can make themselves understood to each other by looks or gestures. It was Minato's hope that Kakashi and Sakura could become like those Teammates, which would make Sakura's lack of human speech a moot point.

"I'm putting her care into your hands," Minato told Kakashi. The younger shinobi blinked.

"You're what?"

_:He's what?: _Sakura thought at the same time.

"Up until now, I've had her living with me, coming to work with me. More or less, she hasn't left my side since she's been bound to that form. I want it to be the same with you," Minato said. "In order to facilitate her inclusion into Konoha's ranks, she needs Teammates who can understand her. You need to become allies of the closest sort, Teammates who can communicate without words. You can't cultivate bonds that close just by training together and going on missions together. At least, you can't build them quickly enough that way. I want you to interact in a constant, casual way. Live together. Eat together."

_:But I don't want to leave you and Naruto!: _Sakura thought in distress. She didn't like the idea of not being near Naruto. He was the whole reason she'd decided to stay in this world. Seeing his happiness, his baby-joy under his father's attentions, reminded her that it was all worth it.

And she knew some of what they could face, in the future. If she wasn't right by Naruto, how could she make sure to protect him from it all?

Sakura's eyes traced worriedly from Kakashi to Minato a few times. The Hokage smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. Kakashi will take good care of you."

_:I'm not worried about that. Kakashi's always taken good care of his Teammates…: _But she couldn't tell him the real reason why she was so recalcitrant. He might trust her now, but she was sure that if she showed more than an acquaintance's casual fondness toward Naruto, she'd be subject to very pointed suspicion. Best if they simply believed her to be wary of Kakashi.

She tapped her paw against the desk, and the Yondaime obligingly spread a sheet of paper for her.

"Pleased to meet you, Hatake-san. Please excuse my—" she paused, unsure of how to word it diplomatically "—hesitance. I am still very vulnerable in this form."

She hoped that, since she was writing and not speaking, Kakashi wouldn't be able to tell she was lying. He was a very skilled ninja, well able to discern truth from lies. Although, really, what she wrote wasn't quite a lie. She _was _very vulnerable as a fox—although her chakra had some back with all its former strength, she had found (through very secret and careful testing) that it didn't react to her manipulation of it the way it had before; something had changed. She could sense the wellspring of chakra at the core of her being, but though her touch stirred it, she couldn't seem to grasp it, metaphysically speaking. Tie that in with the fact that she no longer had the body required of her taijutsu forms, and she had a serious problem. She couldn't even use kunai unless she gripped them in her mouth. And forget about throwing shuriken or senbon…

So, no. She wasn't really lying. It was just that her vulnerability was not the reason for her hesitance.

As Kakashi scanned her with a sharp grey eye, she tried to stifle the guilt she felt at not telling them the full truth. After a second, his eye creased in a very familiar way—he was smiling his bright, fake smile. The one he'd often given Team Seven to reassure them that everything would be alright, even though the odds were grossly against them.

In this context, it wasn't very reassuring.

"Those who abandon the rules are called trash, but those who abandon their allies are worse than trash," he told her. "That is my creed."

_:Which is also completely not reassuring since you probably don't consider me an ally just yet,: _Sakura thought. _:Even if I saved Minato, Kakashi is much too chary to trust me just for that. Well. He hasn't killed me yet. That's the best I can ask for right now. I'll win him over later. Cha!:_

"That is a very wise philosophy," she wrote solemnly.

"It is indeed," Minato said, drawing their attention back to him. He smiled at them both and then got back to business. "Will you accept this charge, Kakashi?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," the Copy Ninja replied. Minato nodded.

"Good. Since this is a matter that is classified, I'll need you to sign the standard paperwork," the Hokage pulled out a sheaf of paper and a pen. "You can tell anyone who asks that Sakura is a contract summon, a new one, and that you are training her. That'll be the official story, anyway."

"Understood," Kakashi said, bending to the papers.


	19. Blood

_TH: __Please read and review!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen**

**Theme: Blood**

* * *

Kakashi led Sakura to his apartment building by foot, on street level. It was the first time Sakura had really been out in Konoha proper—anytime she'd been out with Minato, they'd been walking to the Tower or to the Hokage's Residence, which was down a side street close to the Tower. To get to Kakashi's place, they had to walk through the whole eastern quadrant, allowing her to see more of the Village. Curious as to what in this early Konoha was different and what was the same, Sakura looked around with interest.

The biggest difference she saw was in the people. The Konoha of her memories was a light place, filled with good, happy people. This place was very grim.

Then again, the Konoha that featured prominently in her memories was the one from her childhood—before the war with the Akatsuki and Madara. Truthfully, the Konoha that she had left—the war-torn, embittered one—was a lot like the Konoha she found herself in now.

Which, if she remembered her history, made a lot of sense. The time she was in now was not so far removed from the Third Shinobi War. It had been a long and bloody war for everyone involved. So many lives had been lost. Konoha was still wary, nursing its wounds from the long, harsh conflict.

And, Sakura thought, sneaking a sidelong look at Kakashi, many of its ninja were nursing wounds. Physical or otherwise.

Kakashi was one who internalized much of what he was feeling. A consummate ninja, he never let on what he was thinking or feeling; the concept of 'underneath the underneath' was not just applicable to analyzing enemies, it was how Kakashi lived his life, hiding things under layers of masks. He hid his face under a cloth one. He hid his sharpness under a mask of reputation: Hatake Kakashi was a lazy, perpetually late pervert.

It was mostly a ruse. Careful inspection of his records proves that he was anything but lazy. His slouch and his hooded eye only gave off the impression. And while it was true that he was frequently late, when it mattered, he was on time. And he had all but admitted (or, well, Sakura's Kakashi had all but admitted) that his lateness was something of an homage to his dead Teammate Obito. Before Obito's untimely death, Kakashi had been something of a stickler for rules, and had never been late.

The pervert part might be true; as far as Sakura could tell, he really did derive significant amusement from the Icha Icha series. But she was also fairly certain that he only read them in public to build his reputation-mask.

His masks concealed a flawed human. Injured and only partly healed. He had suffered great loss early on, and continued to lose his precious people throughout his life. It was mad to think he'd gotten over such loss. It was mad to think he was as calm and steadfast as he acted. Sakura knew from close observation and close friendship with her time's Kakashi, that, inside, he was still bleeding.

But, thanks to a crazy fluke and mistaken identity, Sakura had saved him at least one heartache. The man who had become something like a father-figure to Kakashi—his Hokage and his sensei—had not died protecting the Village from the Kyuubi. Namikaze Minato still lived.

Even though Sakura, through virtue of long practice, could see through his masks to see the bruised soul inside, this Kakashi was not as broken as hers. In saving Minato, she had not only given Naruto a loving father, she had given Kakashi his sensei. She'd given Konoha its Hokage.

She would kill or gladly die to ensure they kept him.


	20. Converge

_TH: __I slept until noon today and my kittens cuddled with me the whole time. It was glorious._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty**

**Theme: ** **Converge**

* * *

Kakashi's apartment was about as homey as a prison cell. If it wasn't necessary, Kakashi didn't have it. He had no artwork on the walls, and no carpets or mats on the floors with the exception of a folded-up futon in the corner. The kitchen had the barest utensils for cooking and eating. He didn't even have a table; Sakura assumed he either ate standing up at his counter, or sitting on the floor. The only mark that somebody actually lived there were the stacks of scrolls lined neatly up against the wall near the futon, and the neat piles of folded clothes (all regulation, besides the boxers) beside them.

Sakura sat down inside the door and looked up at Kakashi as he toed his sandals off. Her Kakashi had at least a couch and a card table.

He either couldn't read the expression on her furry face, or he was ignoring it. He didn't twitch an eyelid, and just stepped up onto the tatami of the main room from the tile of the entrance.

"It'd probably be best to introduce you as soon as possible to my _ninken_," he said. "Would you be up for it right now?"

Sakura resigned herself to living in an apartment with as much character as the inside of a cardboard box, and hopped up beside him. She tilted her head to meet his eye, and nodded.

And without further ado, he bit the pad of his thumb and called his summons. "_Kuchiyose-no-jutsu_!"

The displacement of the air as his _ninken _appeared sent a series of popping noises ricocheting off the blank walls. Sakura's ears twitched, but she barely noticed because she was suddenly facing Pakkun, and Bull, and Bisuke, Urushi, Shiba, Akino, Uuhei, and Guruko. Back in her time, she had gotten to know the dogs very well, as she and Kakashi went on more missions together and she interacted with him and them more. She knew and liked them, and they knew and liked her. It had been a heavy blow when Kakashi's death had not only taken Kakashi away from her, but the _ninken _as well.

And now she was seeing them again. She managed to withhold her excitement, and instead of wriggling in joy, sat still and flicked her tail at them cheerfully.

They eyed her curiously. Pakkun, the nominal spokesdog, looked from Kakashi to her and back again.

"Boys, this is Sakura," Kakashi told them, answering the unspoken question. "She's going to be working with us for the foreseeable future."

There was a long pause, in which the dogs eyed her and said nothing and Sakura's tail stilled and her ears drooped. This wasn't exactly the kind of welcome she'd been hoping for. It wasn't as if she'd been expecting that they'd converge on her like she was a lost litter-mate, greeting her with tongues lolling and tails wagging, but they were mostly looking like they couldn't decide whether or not Kakashi was kidding, which wasn't very encouraging.

Finally, Pakkun said dubiously: "A fox?"

"Well, sort of," Kakashi said, in that tone of voice that had so irritated Sakura coming from her Kakashi. He was being deliberately obtuse—another part of his mask. Sakura was abruptly, completely annoyed.

_"I am a kunoichi!" _she snapped, the words coming out in aggravated barks.

"Are you?" Pakkun said, looking at her along with the rest of the _ninken _in newfound interest. "What'd you do to yourself, then?"

She reared back, ears pricking. _"You understand me?!"_

"You understand her?" Kakashi asked at the same time, intent and curious.

The dogs shot them both exasperated looks.

"Kakashi," said Urushi, "we're _dogs_."

Well, thinking about it, it did seem to make sense… The _ninken _weren't born talking the human tongue, after all. They had to learn it. Their native language was, well, dog. And foxes were also canid. It stood to reason they'd understand her.

"So, you're Sakura, huh?" said Shiba, edging closer to her. "Why're you pretending to be a fox?"

_"I'm not pretending," _she grumbled. _"It was an accident."_

"Big accident," said Bull ponderously. Sakura paused, then laughed.

_"You have no idea," _she said feelingly.

Kakashi watched the interplay for a moment. Then he glanced down at Pakkun, who'd gone over to sit at his feet, and asked: "Do you think you could teach her to talk like you do?"

That redirected Sakura's attention like a magnet attracts iron. Her whole body perked up hopefully, her eyes fixing on the pug for his answer. Pakkun considered her.

"We could at least try," he said. "But even if it's possible, it takes a long time to learn to be good enough you can be understood."

_"That's fine!" _Sakura exclaimed, fluffy tail whipping back and forth. _"That's excellent!"_

"Good," Kakashi said in satisfaction. "Start as soon as possible. Sakura-san has been instated as a Konoha ninja, and she needs to be fully mission-capable as soon as she can."

"Of course," Pakkun said. The other _ninken _chimed in their support, as they moved forward to greet her properly. Shiba, who had by now edged himself right next to her, politely touched noses with her before cheerily asking:

"So, what kind of accident can make a person a fox?"


	21. Destruction

_TH: There can be only one... And no, this wouldn't create a paradox. Multiple universe theory!__  
_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-one**

**Theme: Destruction**

* * *

Kakashi went every day to the Memorial, first thing after he woke. After the first few mornings, when he'd use all his stealth to slip away without even waking Sakura, she began forcing herself awake at the same time as he did. He didn't acknowledge her presence as she trotted beside him toward the park, but neither did he tell her to go back to the apartment.

The heavy, dark stone of the Memorial was just the same as always, though it carried fewer names than the last time Sakura had seen it. What was new about the park was the low, pale stone wall that curved around the Memorial. Sakura looked at it curiously. Like the Memorial, it bore rows of carved names. After reading a few rows, Sakura realized what it was.

It was a memorial for all the civilians who had died during the Kyuubi attack. It must have been Minato's idea, since the addition had not existed in her time, where Minato was dead.

It was a good gesture, a very fine idea. There was always some division between civilian and ninja quarters; neither side quite understood the other and there were frequent bad feelings over perceived prejudices and inequalities. Putting this memorial here, right next to the ninja memorial, reminded everyone that they were one Village, and mourned together.

Sakura was going to turn away when her eyes caught on a set of names.

Ice-cold dread made her fur fluff, and she went rigid for a brief moment. Kakashi noticed, and was in the process of turned toward her when she launched herself into a wild sprint away from the Memorials.

Sakura could sense Kakashi chasing after her, but paid little attention to him. Ears laid back, eyes wide, and her mind chanting _nonononono_, she flew down the streets of Konoha as fast as she could. Dodging civilians and ninja alike, she darted forward. To Kakashi's credit, he didn't lose her, even as she slipped like liquid through the crowds. So he was only a fraction of a second behind her as she came to her destination and stopped dead.

Muzzle slightly parted, Sakura panted with combined exertion and emotion. Kakashi landed lightly on his feet next to her, taking in the shattered building in front of them.

The modest house had once been a neat little residence in a quiet corner of the civilian sector, with a trimmed lawn behind its low fence. It was now just a heap of rubble, splintered wood and shattered stone. The destruction was echoed all over the area, no doubt caused by the Kyuubi's lashing tails and chaotic chakra. So much of the Village had been damaged or destroyed by the Bijuu that even now, weeks after the fact, there were sections where they hadn't even cleared out the debris. It would take them years to completely rebuild. But right now, Sakura only had eyes for the house in front of her.

Perversely, the fence and its gate were still mostly intact. Upon the gate someone had fixed two paper streamers, and remnants of salt lay in the cracks of the road in front of it. A purification ceremony—someone, or someones, had died in this collapsed building.

Sakura threw back her head and wailed.

Kakashi crouched down to her. "Did you know the people who lived here?"

There was more sympathy in his voice than Sakura would have expected, but he was also nursing his own fresh grief, so maybe part of it was empathy.

Foxes don't cry like humans when they're sad, but Sakura's anguished sorrow made itself known in her posture and the keening whine that built in her throat. She nodded.

_:This was _my _home. My home!:_

The Haruno family that lived here weren't hers, though. Not really. The Haruno Kizashi and Haruno Mebuki who'd lived here had already had their own Sakura—the year-old baby that had died with them when their home was destroyed. All three names had been inscribed on the memorial.

_:Was it my fault?: _Sakura wondered in agony. _:Obviously, this never happened in my time. And the only thing that changed here was that I was here… The Kyuubi was sealed at the same time as it would have been; it's not like it had time to rampage more. And yet… And yet my parents are dead, and the… this time's me is dead. Is it because I'm here? Is this my fault?:_

She had a feeling she was right, and that made the grief ache that much more.


	22. Sorrow

_TH: Gruuuuuu...__  
_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-two**

**Theme: Sorrow**

Discovering the deaths of her parents and her alternate self had Sakura listless and morose for weeks after. It wasn't just that they had died that so affected her; she was a ninja, and what's more she was a medical ninja. She was intimately familiar with death, natural or otherwise. What was really making her depressive was the question of whether or not it was her fault.

Once the shock of it had worn off, she had been clear-minded enough that she came up with a few other explanations as to why the Haruno family had been killed here, but not in her time. Explanations that did not involve her guilt.

After all, she wasn't sure just when she'd arrived in this world—she'd been unconscious at the time. Perhaps her family had already been dead by the time she got here. Maybe it was just pure chance. Maybe in this world, these Harunos would have been killed whether or not she had come here. Maybe she didn't just jump back in time, maybe this was some sort of alternate reality…

Of course, she probably would never find out the truth. It's not like there were other time-travellers out there with whom she could corroborate.

There was still the chance that her presence had indeed led to her family's deaths. And that possibility made a pit in her stomach.

But, despite her sorrow, she still had to do her duty as a Konoha ninja, even if that duty currently only consisted of training. She worked on teamwork with Kakashi, built up her endurance and agility in her fox body, and had lessons with the _ninken _on human speech.

She gamely applied herself, but she could feel herself dragging. Her grief was indeed a burden. She wished she had someone to confide in, but she wasn't really comfortable telling anyone that she was an accidental time-traveller. She was still quite an unknown quantity to Konoha; if she went even to Minato with her story, she probably wouldn't get a positive reaction.

She was inclined to let the truth be a secret forever; it wasn't necessary for anyone to know she was from the future. If she wanted to warn Minato about Akatsuki, Sound, or Madara, she could do so as the wandering, Village-less kunoichi she was believed to be. It was entirely plausible that she'd run into, heard about, or otherwise was made aware of those threats while traveling around the Elemental Countries.

No, as much as she wished she had a confidant, it was probably best if she just pretended to be a normal ninja with information gathered the normal way.

Even if that did mean she had to bear her grief by herself.


	23. Perfect

_TH: Finally. After today there will be no more political ads to annoy the bejeezus out of me. At least for a little while... sigh.__  
_

_Please read and review!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-three**

**Theme: Perfect**

* * *

The kick that Sakura needed to get her out of her slump came a few weeks later, during her first official mission as a Konoha ninja. At least, the first official one _here_. She followed Kakashi in to the Hokage's office readily enough, but feeling no particular excitement. Not even the promise of seeing baby Naruto happily drooling on Minato's shoulder managed to raise her spirits, though she did feel a smile linger behind her fox-face. It was a weary smile, certainly, but a genuine one all the same. Even though he wasn't quite _her _Naruto, this world's Naruto was still a balm to her soul, making her feel better just by existing.

Sakura leapt to Minato's desk while Kakashi stopped in front of it.

The Hokage smiled at her, tilting Naruto just enough that she could see his sleeping face, before addressing Kakashi. "So, how is it going?"

Sakura listened with half an ear as Kakashi relayed the events of the past month, since Minato had paired them together. Her attention was mostly on Naruto, whose chubby cheek was pressed against his father's collarbone. He looked so content…

Sakura's attention drifted, and she caught a few phrases as Kakashi told Minato about the Memorial incident. She couldn't help but flinch; she hadn't forgotten in the least, but she had been getting better at not letting it consume her. Hearing it spoken of aloud, though, was still painful.

Minato touched two fingers to her head, and gently rubbed the spot right between her ears. His blue eyes were sympathetic. "I'm sorry," he said. "We've all lost people; the Kyuubi's attack was terrible."

She gave a little whine, and licked his fingers. He withdrew, and rocked Naruto a little as the baby stirred. Naruto sighed and slipped back deeper into sleep.

"I have some work for you two, if you feel you are up to it. If you still need time to adjust, to establish your teamwork, then tell me now."

Sakura glanced at Kakashi, and met his single grey eye. They shared a look, and the Kakashi's gaze returned to Minato. "I believe we're ready for a mission."

Minato smiled. "Good. I'm afraid it's nothing big; I was hoping to ease you back up to your levels. It's a C-rank mission—sweeping a few of the training grounds for forgotten traps and weapons."

Kakashi nodded. "We'll accept it."

* * *

Most of the training grounds in Konoha were available for use by any rank ninja, though there were private ones reserved for ANBU, monitored ones for Academy students, as well as grounds that were privately owned by prominent clans. All of the 'public' training grounds were on a rotation for cleaning; even with Jounin, there were occasionally traps that were forgotten, or shuriken that were lost. And those forgotten things could pose a danger to whoever next used the grounds, particularly if they were Genin and inexperienced. That said, even Jounin themselves weren't safe, even though they'd had training in detecting and disarming traps—accidents could always happen.

So, every so often, sections of the training grounds were closed for cleaning. The mission Kakashi and Sakura had been contracted for was a common one, mostly taken by Chuunin, or Jounin who were recovering from injuries but still wanted to keep sharp.

It was almost the perfect mission to test their teamwork and communication. They did well with it, despite Sakura's continued inability to form human speech with her fox mouth. She and Kakashi had trained enough together that looks and gestures worked well enough for the simplicity of finding and identifying traps.

Sakura was pleased to find out that her continued practice trying to access her chakra had paid off—she could now mold enough of it that she could augment her senses. She'd spent some time trying to figure out why she had such trouble with her chakra, and had ultimately decided that it was combination of things. First was basic chakra theory: a person's chakra came from two sources: body and spirit. Now that she had a fox body, that half of her chakra was intrinsically different from before, which threw off her perception of her chakra as a whole, explaining her difficulty in accessing it. And then there was the fact that she couldn't form hand seals anymore. Hand seals were used to help the practitioner focus, to mold chakra into a specific jutsu. They weren't strictly necessary—there were many ninja who'd become skilled enough so that they didn't require them anymore, if only for certain jutsu. It would take some intensive training for Sakura to be able to use her full arsenal of jutsu without relying on hand seals. Jutsu that remained internal—like her sense-augmentation—were easier to get.

In any case, they finished their mission in a timely fashion (timely considering they'd gotten a typically Kakashi late-start). Feeling a little better, having seen baby Naruto and progressed in regaining her skills, Sakura trotted along next to Kakashi as they walked through Konoha's streets back to the Tower.

The Academy, located quite near the Tower, had just ended classes for the day and the streets were full of kids and parents.

She saw him through a gap in the crowd, and nearly face-planted into the ground. As it was, she stumbled a bit and felt suddenly breathless, because there was no mistaking his identity, and the sight of him made her hurt and made her hope at the same time.

She knew the truth about Uchiha Itachi—Madara had liked to gloat over the pain he'd caused, and had taken malicious glee in doing so after it was too late to fix what he'd done. She knew how gentle the Uchiha prodigy really was, and could see it reflected in this younger Itachi's softer features. She knew also the truth behind the Kyuubi's attack, and how it had been the pebble to start the avalanche that ended in the Massacre. She knew that Madara had used Itachi, and had used the Uchiha, and had used Sasuke. She knew how he'd killed them all.

She also knew that it hadn't happened yet. Minato was still alive, and he'd seen Madara and knew the man had controlled the Kyuubi. He wouldn't let the Massacre take place. So Itachi was still alive, and not a _nukenin_, and the Uchiha Clan was still alive, and…

Sasuke. Sasuke had to exist here. He _had_ to.

Trembling, Sakura forced herself to follow Kakashi back to the Hokage Tower so they could give their report to Minato.


	24. Smirk

_TH: Wreck-It Ralph is a fun movie._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-four**

**Theme: Smirk**

* * *

The Yondaime Hokage knew about Madara. Sakura knew this. She also had a pretty good idea that Minato had a very realistic understanding of how dangerous and how _insane _Madara was. But she wanted to be sure he _really _knew. It was time to have a talk with the Hokage. She probably shouldn't have waited so long, but…

"Does this have anything to do with Uchiha Itachi?" Kakashi asked when she scrawled the request on a bit of scrap paper. She gaped at him, before remembering that she really hadn't been subtle in her reaction to seeing Itachi.

She shut her jaw and wrote: "Not him exactly. A different Uchiha."

Interest leapt like a wildfire in his visible eye. And then, swiftly, a narrow look. "Alright," he said. "I'll inquire about his availability."

Sakura blinked, and wondered if Kakashi suspected. He hadn't been present for any of the fights that revealed Madara's identity or presence during the Kyuubi attack, but he was Minato's trusted student. Perhaps they spoke. Or perhaps it was just a case of Kakashi using his freakish powers of deduction—her Kakashi had always inexplicably _known _things; perhaps it was a talent he'd learned early. But whatever he thought, or thought that he knew, he got her in to see the Hokage within an hour. For that, and because he was Kakashi and she trusted him, she didn't protest when he stayed in the office while she 'talked' to Minato.

"What can I do for you?" Minato asked. He'd allowed her to sit on top of his desk and had obligingly spread some paper out for her to use in their conversation. She inked her paw and wrote. Minato read what she wrote aloud for Kakashi's benefit.

"Uchiha Madara."

All trace of good humor was instantly blanked from Minato's face, and where he was standing, Kakashi went tense. Blue eyes flat and dangerous, the Hokage leaned back and stared at her. "What about him?"

"He's not dead like everyone thinks. And he's dangerous, but I think you already know this." Sakura met his eyes forthrightly. Minato was smart, he would be able to infer what she was talking about. The only question was, would he admit to it or pretend ignorance?

He watched her for a long silent moment before answering. When he did, his voice was tight with controlled fury and pain. "The man who tore the Kyuubi from my wife's seal and killed her wore a long cloak and a mask. He never spoke of his identity."

"But you had your suspicions," Sakura scribbled. Minato paused again.

"I saw his Sharingan. And witnessed his techniques," he admitted. "And the casual way he used both makes me believe he is an Uchiha born, and not someone with a stolen _doujutsu_."

"So you thought Madara," Kakashi said. Minato looked at him.

"Yes. There hadn't been another Uchiha _nukenin_ since he was exiled from the Village, so it couldn't have been that. And I knew, at least in passing, all the Uchiha in the Village, and I could tell it wasn't any of them. There were certainly a few Uchiha who died during missions or wars whose bodies didn't get cremated, for whatever reason. It could have been one of those, made into a puppet, resurrected, or spirit-ridden. But his techniques were familiar to me; I'd read about them. And nobody _saw _Madara die. It was only assumed because otherwise he'd be well into his hundreds by now," Minato explained.

"Believe me, he is very much alive," Sakura wrote.

"Alright," Minato said. "Perhaps you should tell me what you know."

"Madara killed my family," Sakura wrote, not quite lying. "I've been tracking him, and his trail led me here."

"I'm very sorry to hear that," Minato said.

"They were in the wrong spot at the wrong time; Madara killed them because they were in his way. It's what he does. He hates, and he kills, and if he feels anything about it, it's only pleasure." Minato's voice as he read her words was becoming grimmer and grimmer.

"And he has it in for Konoha," Kakashi muttered. Sakura barked, nodding her head vigorously. She wrote:

"He does, he really does. Everything he's done and is doing is in the interest of revenge. First he wants revenge on the Uchiha Clan for exiling him, then on Konoha for… well, for the Senju. For beating him. For casting him out."

She paused, having run out of paper, and Minato made a modified handsign with one hand and touched the paper with the other. The ink melted into the paper like water disappearing into the ground, leaving no trace. Sakura blinked at Minato, whose smirk was only half its normal brightness thanks to their heavy conversation. "Waste not. The ink is special; brewed up by our Intelligence Department. Appropriate application of chakra will make it vanish."

"Clever," she wrote approvingly. Then, back on subject, "I'd guess that Madara wore the mask and cloak and didn't admit to who he was because he wanted the relationship between the Village and the Uchiha Clan to weaken. Maybe he thought you wouldn't expect him to be still alive, and so would suspect someone in the Clan as being responsible for the Kyuubi attack. Or maybe he expected you to die before you told anyone what you suspected. It is still known in some circles that the Sharingan can control the Kyuubi."

"Probably more likely the latter," Minato murmured. He looked thoughtful. "If I didn't think Madara could still be alive I would probably suspect the Uchiha Clan Head. Only a strong, mastered Sharingan has the potential for controlling the Fox."

"Anybody else would have the same thought," Kakashi said. "And the suspicion would probably injure Fugaku's pride… The Clan's collective pride."

"Madara could've used that pride to incite rebellion, forcing a schism between Konoha and the Uchiha. Possibly causing civil war… or at least a genocide," Minato responded.

"And in the resulting turmoil caused by the Uchiha uprising, Madara could have struck a crippling blow to the Village," Kakashi returned. Sakura's gaze flicked between the two of them, slightly awed. She didn't have to prompt them at all; she just gave them the hints and they brainstormed the answers right up.

It kind of made her wonder how Madara had succeeded in her time. But then, in her time Minato hadn't had any other choice but to die to save the Village. Apparently, the Yondaime Hokage was a lynchpin upon which the stability of Sakura's world had depended. Just one man, one tree in a forest of many, but when a tree falls, it can knock down others… Minato had died, and countries had fallen. Thousands had died. War and chaos had ruled.

"…kura? Sakura? Is there anything else you can tell us about Madara?" the man himself, oblivious that he was changing the world just by being alive, asked. Sakura shook herself out of her thoughts, and nodded.

"Of course. I don't know much, and a lot of it is rumor," she wrote, "but I'll tell you everything."


	25. Wander

_TH: Okay, OW. I was not expecting this vaccine to hurt quite so much. 'A little soreness in your arm' yeah right. Try a lotta soreness. I suppose on the off chance I stab myself with rusty metal, I will appreciate the fact I've had this shot, though._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-five**

**Theme:: Wander**

* * *

However much Sakura trusted Minato to do what needed to get done, she knew that he was one man. And she also had the knowledge to help make things better. In her mind, there was no reason why she shouldn't start trying to do so.

As soon as Kakashi and Minato were confident that her presence in the Village was established enough that she wouldn't have random ninja trying to kill her, and when they were reasonably certain she wasn't a security threat, they allowed her to wander around on her own. Because Sakura didn't want to raise any red flags in anyone's mind, she didn't go immediately where she wanted to go. Instead, she went to the Memorial, and spent some time making promises to some names that weren't on it, and some names that were.

Afterwards, she wandered around the larger of Konoha's marketplaces, curiously looking for what stores were missing from her time and what stores were new here. There was a very cute clothing shop that made Sakura miss her human body all over again. Not that she would have been able to afford it; she didn't exist in this time, which meant her account didn't exist either. All the mission pay she'd saved up was gone—_poof_.

_:Ugh,: _she thought, ears going back. _:Depressing. Sigh. Well, I guess it's been long enough; I can probably head there without raising suspicions.:_

She ambled down the street, and slowly the sound of shouting, laughing, and running children became louder. She turned a corner and the Academy came into view. Classes had just been let out, and the students were milling around the grounds, meeting parents, walking home in groups…

Being even shorter than a child, Sakura couldn't see much of anything from her position on the street. So she marked out a path that she could jump up step by step to reach the roofs. Leaping from box to bin to a low roof and finally to the main roof of a nearby building, she turned to scan the crowd around the Academy.

Her movement had evidently drawn her target's attention, because when her gaze landed on him, he was looking straight at her.

It was almost ridiculous how adorable little Itachi was, before his life made a pale mask of his face. He had round cheeks—the last remnant of his baby fat—and wide eyes. His hair was shorter than it had been in her time, but was still long enough to pull back into a cute little tail at the base of his neck.

He looked at her solemnly from his little kid's face. Sakura gave him a fox grin, mouth open and tongue lolling, flicked her tail cheerfully, and bounded away.

Hopefully, that would be enough to pique his interest. She knew Itachi was, by nature, very curious. He'd probably at least heard about her—after the Kyuubi attack, there was quite a bit of talk when the Hokage started being seen with a little fox companion. The Uchiha Clan also tended to keep an eye on Kakashi, since he did possess their _kekkei genkai_. So Itachi also had probably heard that she was teamed with the Copy Ninja. If she was lucky, he would seek her out out of curiosity. That way she didn't have to worry about making him suspicious by seeking _him_ out.

She hoped, anyway. And she hoped she wouldn't have to wait long. Time was ticking, and she needed to make sure they'd all be prepared.


	26. Eager

_TH: Long chapter ahoy! Sheesh, Itachi, every time you're in the scene it becomes 150 percent more cerebral. _

_Also, it is hard to type when a kitten is attacking your fingers._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-six**

**Theme:: Eager**

* * *

"Hha—Ha…shhh… Hachhhhi." Sakura fought the sounds, forcing them out of her throat, twisting her tongue and lips around them. Pakkun and the rest of the pack listened, nodding encouragingly. "Kyuu."

Her lips peeled back from her teeth. Juu was always the hardest. The 'J' sound just wasn't easy for a fox to vocalize. "Y-yuuu—argh!"

"Yeah, that one sucks," commiserated Shiba. Eyes narrowed, Sakura glared at the ground in front of her, then spat:

"Juu!"

"Good," Pakkun said.

_"Good,"_ Sakura growled, disbelieving. Pakkun shrugged.

"I told you it took a long time to learn human speech in your current form. You may be frustrated, but really, you're right where you should be."

Sakura grumbled foxily. _"I guess I thought that, since I already knew human speech it'd be easier."_

"Learning how to shape the sounds with a different mouth is probably just as hard as learning the language itself," Pakkun pointed out, keeping his speech human even when Sakura reverted to fox. "But you are making progress, don't forget."

_"I haven't forgotten," _Sakura sighed. _"It's just…"_

"Yeah," Akino said. "We understand."

_"Thank you, guys, for teaching me," _she said sincerely. _"I'm really grateful for your efforts. And your patience."_

"It isn't a problem," Pakkun said gruffly. "Now, do it again. From the top."

Sakura nodded. "Ichi. Ni. Sssssan… Ssan. San."

She paused when she realized the pack's attention wasn't on her anymore. She blinked, and then turned around, and blinked again, this time in surprise. Itachi was standing behind her, a little hesitantly. His high-collared shirt reminded Sakura of Sasuke, pre-Orochimaru. Her heart hurt a little at the memory. But she forced that pain back, and chirped, as cheerfully as she could: "Hi!"

He looked at her, and then at the pack, and said: "Are you learning how to talk?"

"Yes," she said, careful of her pronunciation. It came out clear enough.

"Ah," he said, and he was young enough that he wasn't as skilled at hiding his emotions, because Sakura caught the slight hint of disappointment as he pulled a scroll out of his pouch. "I brought this because I heard you didn't speak."

Sakura looked at Pakkun, who interpreted her look and cleared his throat. Itachi's dark, flat gaze moved to the pug, who said: "She's not fully fluent yet. For now, she does prefer to communicate through writing."

"I see," Itachi said slowly, looking at her. She waved her tail at him, trying to not seem too eager.

"If it's all the same to you, Sakura, we'll be going back now," Pakkun said. "No more lessons today."

_"Okay," _she said. The pack poofed away.

"I didn't mean to interrupt anything," Itachi said. Sakura shook her head, and waved a paw at him. Obligingly, he spread out his scroll on the ground, and uncovered a pot of ink.

"It's fine," she wrote. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?"

"I wanted to know what you wanted," he said. Surprised, Sakura tilted her head. He met and locked gazes with her. "There was no reason for you to be at the Academy the other day. You purposefully went there, and lifted yourself to a visible location. And I wasn't the only one who saw you, looked at you, yet you singled me out of the crowd."

_:Damn genius Uchiha,: _Sakura thought, chagrined. She hadn't realized she'd been that obvious. But of course Itachi would notice. By all accounts, he was brilliant, and a caliber above and beyond even the most skilled ninja.

She was rather lucky his preferred response right now was simply curiosity, rather than violent paranoia. He wasn't angry; he just wanted to know why.

Sakura hadn't intended to tell Itachi that she was anything more than a summons; it was the 'official' story. She hadn't intended to do anything more than plant a seed, like she had with the Hokage and Kakashi. But… Knowing the future Itachi, knowing his story… She felt a very strong need to tell him.

"First thing you need to know," she wrote in a very formal tone, imparting the importance of what she was saying, "is that I was not always a fox."

Itachi didn't react in any visible fashion, but merely waited patiently and intently for her to re-ink her paw and continue: "I was human, a kunoichi, before an accident with _fuuinjutsu _and natural chakra gave me this body."

At this, Itachi's eyes narrowed, and he said, thoughtfully: "Does this have anything to do with the Kyuubi attack and its sealing?"

Sakura nodded yes, and refrained from saying anything stupidly patronizing like 'you're very observant.' She was sure Itachi was sick of people treating him like a well-trained puppy, as adults tended to do with intelligent children. When you had all the pieces—that Sakura had been human, was recently changed into a fox because of a sealing accident and natural chakra, and that the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox had recently been sealed—and applied any modicum of thought, it was the obvious conclusion.

"I was tracking Uchiha Madara when he came to this place and unleashed the Kyuubi," she wrote, and watched Itachi closely. She knew that Itachi had suspected Madara was alive—in her time, he had gone to Madara for help with the Massacre. She wasn't sure if he had those same suspicions this young, or if this situation was something else that had changed in this place.

His eyes narrowed; he recognized the name at least.

"Madara," he said without any particular inflection. "The same Madara from the time of the Shodai? The Exile?"

"That's the one," she wrote, and let her body language make the tone wry.

"He should be dead," Itachi said. So that was a no, then, to her wondering.

"Don't fall for that trap," Sakura warned. "'Should be' is NOT the same as 'is'. Orochimaru found some ways to extend life, and was researching immortality. And he is nothing compared to Madara."

"Why are you telling me this?" Itachi asked after a long, thoughtful pause.

"Madara engineered the Kyuubi attack, with the hope that either Konoha would be destroyed or at the very least that it would lose most of its strength. He also took steps to try to make it look like the Uchiha Clan was behind it."

"Why tell _me_?" he asked again. Sakura paused. Great. She hadn't expected him to confront her like he had, so she wasn't prepared with stories or lies or anything for the questions he asked.

"I don't know," she wrote finally. "Maybe because you are the son of the Clan Head, and said to be a genius… I suppose I thought I could use you as a sounding board, instead of going straight to…"

"Instead of going straight to the Clan Head. My father intimidates you," Itachi observed. Sakura twitched her tail.

"Well, yes. And he's awfully… prideful."

"You are being very frank," Itachi said.

"I apologize if I've offended you," Sakura wrote hurriedly. "I just feel… like I can trust you."

The shadow of surprise passed across his face, and was gone. If she hadn't seen it, she would have believed his indifferent tone as he said: "There aren't many who do."

Sakura faltered, and looked at him a little sadly. She supposed it was probably his genius that made people wary of him, that and the fact that his quiet nature and his confidence in his skills could so easily be misconstrued as aloof arrogance. But he was so painfully loyal—to the Village, yes, but mostly to peace. It kind of bothered her that his character had been so misjudged.

"I think the Hokage does," she wrote presently. "I think he trusts the Uchiha; he knows about Madara, and doesn't want the actions of the Exile to hurt the Clan."

"Did you tell him about Madara?"

Sakura shook her head and paused, because the scroll had become full. Itachi used the same trick Minato had, clearing the ink with chakra. Her eyes widened a bit; the ink was supposed to be special for the Intelligence Department. She was a little surprised the Itachi had access to some. But that was unimportant. She wrote swiftly: "Hokage-sama knew already. He will probably be angry with me for telling you this; it's classified, but I really do believe you are trustworthy.

"Madara attacked when he did because Minato-sama's wife was giving birth. Kushina-san was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, and it's documented that the act of giving birth weakens the seals that keep the Bijuu imprisoned. Madara knew this, and wanted to take advantage of it. Minato-sama and Kushina-san wanted the birth of their son to take place in a secret place just outside of the Village, for safety reasons. Madara also took advantage of this. He confronted them just after Naruto was born, and tore the Kyuubi from Kushina-san, killing her. Minato fought him, and so saw enough evidence to convince him of Madara's identity."

"But Madara had not shown himself to anyone else, and intended for Hokage-sama to die fighting the Fox, which would leave only the evidence that an Uchiha had caused the attack," Itachi filled in. Sakura nodded.

"So what now? What do you expect me to do with this information?"

Sakura looked away, then back, and hesitantly wrote: "I hope you will not be offended…"

Itachi's head tilted, and Sakura went for broke. "Madara's plan was to create a schism between the Uchiha and the Village, and even though we found out his plan to create suspicion against the Uchiha, you can bet that wasn't his only plan. I need to make sure he hasn't made contact with your clan. Hasn't started manipulating them."

"How do you know he hasn't corrupted me?" Itachi asked. The kid really did ask questions from every angle.

"You aren't old enough to be of interest to him yet. You may be hailed as a genius, but you haven't even graduated the Academy yet. You have no power. Your father, however, happens to be Clan Head of the Uchiha. If Madara were to start the seed of corruption, he'd plant it in rich soil. As Clan Head, your father could spread Madara's vitriol on his own and minimize the risk of Madara's hand being revealed."

"That does make sense," Itachi allowed. "I suppose you want me to tell you if my father has been acting suspicious."

Sakura nodded. Itachi thought a moment, then said: "No, I can't say that he's been acting any different than usual. He often speaks about Uchiha pride and our place in the Village, but he hasn't been saying anything with true malice."

"That's reassuring," Sakura wrote, truly relieved. "Still, I'd like it if you kept an eye on things in your family. The Hokage is trying to reach out more to the Uchiha, to preempt any bad feelings but it's also important to know if Madara ever tries to make contact with his former Clan."

"I will be sure to tell you if anything develops," Itachi said.

"If you can't find me, you can always go to the Yondaime."

"I understand," Itachi said, and clearly his curiosity had been sated because he turned to leave. He paused a few feet away, though, and said over his shoulder: "Thank you, Sakura-san."

As soon as he was gone, Sakura sagged, feeling wrung out. She'd never much interacted with her time's Itachi, obviously. The only interactions they'd had had been on opposite sides of the battlefield. Now she understood everything everybody said about him—he really _was _a genius, and even with a diminutive stature and cherubic face he was intimidating. It was something in his stare, and it had little to do with his Sharingan. He seemed to see too much when he looked at you. It was uncomfortable. Not to mention his propensity for stabbing straight at the heart of a matter. Somehow, Sakura had negotiated the turns his questions had introduced in their conversation without revealing too much.

She supposed she could count the conversation a success, even if she felt like she'd just gone fifty rounds with Tsunade-shishou, taijutsu only. And even though a small voice at the back of her head was wondering if she was doing the right thing, embroiling a six-year-old in the situation. Even if that six-year-old was Uchiha Itachi.


	27. Celebrate

_TH: Two things to let you all know. One: there will be no update this Saturday. I'll be visiting family._

_Two: my buffer has been used up, and we're approaching the point where I'm going to be writing chapters as I post them. I am going to try really REALLY hard to keep updates timely, but... well... you know how it can be. But I promise to do my best by you all._

_Anyway. Please read and review!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-seven**

**Theme:: Celebrate**

* * *

After a few months of practice, Sakura finally completely regained her former level of chakra control. This opened a whole new realm of possibilities for her, since it meant she also regained her full arsenal of jutsu. The first thing she did to celebrate was to channel chakra to her front right paw and bat the ground with it.

The ground cracked and heaved, throwing up large clods of dirt and billowing dust spectacularly. Sakura leapt nimbly from the destruction, muscles powered by chakra to launch herself over the crater. On the other side, Kakashi watched with a cocked brow.

"Enhanced strength," he said. "One of Konoha's Legendary Sannin had that ability."

"Lady Tsunade," Sakura agreed, speaking a little haltingly. Along with her progress in chakra use, she'd also grown in her speech capabilities. "I knew someone who saw her fight."

It wasn't a lie. It was just not the whole truth. Sakura had become used to speaking in such a way, by now. It really wasn't so hard, especially since she suspected that, should anyone become aware of her time-travelling truth, they would happily abuse her for her use. She would cease to be a person and become information.

"Ah," Kakashi said, accepting the implied explanation. "What else do you have in your repertoire?"

"Medical jutsu, mostly. And the basics," she replied.

"Any elemental affinity?"

"I'm primarily Earth. I know some mid-ranked Earth jutsu, low Fire, and a survival Suiton," she said. Kakashi nodded thoughtfully.

"I'm Lightning affinity, myself, but I know some Earth jutsu. Do you know Arijigoku?"

Sakura perked up. _:A new jutsu! Kakashi's going to teach me!:_

…If she was entirely truthful with herself, Sakura would admit that she still had lingering teacher issues from her Genin days. She did understand that there were many circumstances that had drawn Kakashi's attention away from her, back when she was a Genin (not the least of which was keeping her Teammates from killing each other), but his neglect of her education still stung a bit. Even if he had, later on, entrusted her with the story of his past, and requested her as his medic either on missions or at home, a tiny part of her that was still a self-conscious little girl would always remember that she had once been discounted by the people she was supposed to trust with her life.

"Really?" she asked, and was ashamed of the vulnerable undercurrent in her voice. Kakashi blinked at her, probably puzzled by the slight quaver.

"Yes. It isn't too elaborate, in terms of handsigns, but it'll still probably take a few weeks to learn how to do it without them," he replied.

"Arara!" Sakura said, loosing all grip on her language. Almost immediately, she felt embarrassment burn in her, and, much subdued, she tried again: "I'd really like to learn it."

"Alright," Kakashi replied, ignoring her slip-up very generously. "I'd also like to request some higher-ranked missions, too, now that you're battle-ready."

"Yes," Sakura said, keeping it simple for the sake of her remaining dignity.

"Right, then," he nodded. "So Doton: Arijigoku is something of a trap jutsu…"


	28. Delirium

_TH: Hope everyone had a good holiday (those who celebrate it). I hope everyone else had a good weekend._

_I made up Kikuta's Orange. Since we were talking ninja, I felt they needed to ask her a question about poisons, so I made one up._

_Anyway. Somebody mentioned in a review of the last chapter that my portrayal of Sakura as someone who'd been wrongfully dismissed by her teammates was at odds with her canon self. That she was 'useless, unwilling to commit, and pretty whiny'. I'm not sure that I agree. In the manga, she is never shown to be slacking in her training. She's weak, yes, but she is also a twelve-year-old girl being compared to boys and adults, so that's really not a surprise. And when she cuts her hair, it isn't because she realized her commitment sucked, it was because up until then, she'd been allowing the male members of her team to protect her all the time. Which, looking back on those chapters, really wasn't something she had much say in- during the attack of those two Mist guys (not Zabuza), she leaps in front of Tazuna, fully willing to protect him from the charge of one of the enemies. Sasuke notices and leaps in without any input from Sakura. Each time there is conflict, she either is prepared to fight and gets shunted out of the way by the guys, or she'd been given orders before the fight to stay with their client or whatever._

_To say she didn't apply herself because she was mooning over Sasuke doesn't ring true with me either, because she applied herself to IMPRESS Sasuke. If you read the beginning of the manga series, every time Sakura is about to attempt something she thinks 'maybe if I do this, Sasuke will acknowledge me!' or a similar statement._

_So I don't know. Part of why she seems to weak and useless is, I think, because she was placed on a team with three juggernauts. Everything is relative. Most official descriptions of her are rather more positive._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-eight**

**Theme:: Delirium**

It took a lot of hard work on Minato's part to get Sakura this chance, and she wasn't going to blow it. She was confident that she wouldn't, of course, otherwise she wouldn't have forced him to fight for the opportunity. But, sitting in front of the Senior Medic, Chief of Medicine, and Senior Nurse, Sakura couldn't help but feel nervous. It was like her board reviews all over again.

The three hospital board members were all looking at her with varying levels of doubt. She levelly returned their stares, keeping her green gaze mild and her bearing professional… whatever the hell that meant for fox posture. She settled with sitting primly with all four paws close together and her tail laid across the front ones. Head high and ears pricked alertly forward, she didn't miss the small sigh from the Chief of Medicine before he said: "I am given to understand you are interested in a medic-nin position in the hospital?"

"Yes," Sakura replied politely.

"Right," he said, taking the ends of his pen in opposite hands and rolling it between his fingers slowly. "A patient comes to you sweating, complaining of chest pains, with tachycardia and apparent swelling of the abdomen. What is your diagnosis?"

"Internal hemorrhage caused by blunt object trauma," Sakura said promptly. "Blunt splenic trauma most likely, statistically."

"Patient with disorientation, loss of fine motor skills, fatigue and sweating?" asked the Senior Nurse.

"Chakra exhaustion or concussion; I'd conduct further tests to determine which."

"Chills, impaired blood clotting, tremors on the left side of the body, and slurred speech," said the Senior Medic, her voice hoarse and rough, and Sakura couldn't help but let her gaze linger on the angry-looking scar that swooped from the woman's left ear across her throat and under the neckline of her shirt.

"Kikuta's Orange poisoning," Sakura replied presently, trying to ignore her healer's itch to take a look at the scar tissue with her chakra.

Then the Chief of Medicine asked another question, and so it continued. All told, they grilled Sakura for a good half-hour, to the point where her mouth got so dry she had to ask them to get her a saucer of water to lap. But, at last, they were satisfied and their expressions had relaxed somewhat.

"Alright," said the Chief of Medicine. "I just have one more question. Should we take you on as an Attending Medic-nin, how will you overcome your physical disadvantages?"

Sakura wasn't insulted by the question; it was actually really pertinent. As a ten-pound fox without opposable thumbs, she would have a hard time securing bandages, putting pressure on wounds, maneuvering unconscious or anesthetized patients, restraining delirious patients, or a thousand other things that it might fall to her to do in the course of her duties.

"It would be best if I established a working rapport with a nurse or group of nurses. There isn't much I can do by myself to overcome my size, weight, and general anatomy. Having someone to work alongside me and be my arms would, I think, be enough."

All three board members nodded agreement with this assessment. The Senior Nurse had a deeply thoughtful look on his face. "I'm sure I can find a few nurses who would work well with you."

"You have answered this board's questions adequately," said the Chief of Medicine. "Sakura, you will be entered into the hospital's roll as an Attending Medic-nin. You will have a part-time obligation to the hospital; this means that you must work in the hospital for a minimum of a thousand hours a year. This time is flexible in acknowledgement of your obligations as an active member of our ninja ranks; you may fulfill your required hours at any time. We only require that you do complete them. Also, you may be called in to the hospital in emergency situations. Considering all this, are you still interested in pursuing this position?"

"I am," Sakura replied.

"Very well. Welcome, Sakura-sensei," the Chief of Medicine said, giving the very barest of smiles. It looked uncomfortable on his thin face, but Sakura appreciated the effort.

"Thank you," she said sincerely, and bowed politely. "Yoroshiku onegai shimasu."

They bowed as well, and Sakura felt a wash of relief. She was a medic-nin again, in name as well as skill. She had the authority to work in the hospital again. It felt good; she had missed it the past few months. And now that she'd more or less mastered human speech and no longer had long lessons on the subject, she had more time free to be able to practice medicine.

Fox body non-withstanding, she was beginning to feel more like herself again.

* * *

_EDIT:: Forgot I wanted to explain some things. First of all, the Chief of Medicine calls Sakura 'Sakura-sensei'. This is because the title sensei is also given to professionals such as doctors. It's basically the Chief acknowledging Sakura's high level of mastery in medical ninjutsu._

_And then, Sakura says 'Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.' This is really hard/weird to translate to English, which is why I left it in Japanese. It's something like 'please take care of me' (though it has more complicated meanings than that) and it's the polite, rote thing that is said when one is joining a group. My taiko group always began practices by bowing to each other and saying this. You might have also seen it if you watch school anime in Japanese, when a new student/teacher is introduced to a class._


	29. Creep

_TH: Words cannot express how much I want this semester to be over._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-nine**

**Theme:: Creep**

To Sakura's regret and anger, she missed Naruto's first birthday. She and Kakashi were out in Kusa, tromping through forests of bamboo and giant mushrooms. Apparently, during the Third Shinobi War, when it had become apparent that Iwa was going to lose, a number of Iwa ninja deserted, becoming missing-nin and going on the run in Kusa. Now, Konoha was receiving reports of these nukenin stirring up trouble in some of the smaller villages in the country, trying to foment dissidence between Konoha and Kusa, who'd become allies after the war. Since Kusa was still trying to regain their feet and rebuild, they requested assistance from their ally: Along with a team of Kusa Chuunin, Sakura and Kakashi were to hunt down the missing-nin and put an end to their mischief.

Missing Naruto's birthday put Sakura in a foul mood. Fully prepared to rip the nukenin to shreds with her teeth for pulling her away from Konoha at such a time, she skulked around the forest with her comrades and stewed silently in her anger whenever they made camp. Finally, while the Kusa Chuunin were burning that night's dinner, Kakashi took her aside and demanded to know why she was grumbling and growling at everything.

"These stupid nukenin creeping around like damned vermin are keeping us away from Naruto on his birthday!" she snapped. Kakashi's eyebrow lifted.

"That's what you're all worked up about? You barely know the kid."

Sakura snarled at him, flashing fangs. "I know that, if I had been just a little later in arriving in Konoha, he would have been an orphan. I know that one of the first things I saw when I woke up in this body was how much Minato loves his son. I know that, even if they only think of me as a curious acquaintance, _I _care a great deal about _them_!"

"I'm sure Sensei would be touched to know how much you care, but you're kidding yourself if you think you'd be able to be anywhere visible on Naruto's birthday. Have you forgotten what also happened that day?" Kakashi asked dryly. Sakura's ears went back and she hissed softly under her breath.

"No. I know. There's probably a matsuri celebrating the Kyuubi's defeat, and a memorial service to remember those who died in the attack. Nobody'll want to see a fox walking around the Village that day."

"So you should forget about it and concentrate on the job," Kakashi said.

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered. But her ears lowered despondently. It was Naruto's first birthday, and Minato was sure to have something special planned. It hurt that she was going to miss that.

Next to her, Kakashi sighed. "If we finish this mission early, we can stop by one of the villages and get Naruto a present. Most of the little villages around here make traditional toys out of the bamboo from the forests."

"Really?" Sakura perked up. "Thanks, Kakashi!"

"It's fine," he muttered, and Sakura thought he was discomfited by her obvious gratitude. "Just stop looking like a kicked puppy."

Being in a much happier place now that she wasn't going to completely miss celebrating Naruto's birthday, Sakura laughed at him.


	30. Need

_TH: Thanks to everybody who's reviewed, at any point in the story. It is much appreciated. They help me get through the day._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty**

**Theme:: Need**

* * *

A few months after Sakura's encounter with Itachi, the boy appeared near Training Ground Three while Sakura was honing her aim with her Katon: Endan. A tree stump that was more ash than wood stood in the middle of a bare-rock clearing. The ground was liberally coated with greasy black soot; aiming a jutsu without using handsigns was a touch difficult.

Once Sakura noticed Itachi standing off to the side, she cut off the jutsu and tilted her head toward him. He edged into the clearing.

"Hello, Itachi," she said. "Can I help you with something?"

"I thought you might want a report on my observations," he said, coming closer. Sakura sat on her haunches and lazily waved her tail back and forth.

"Sure," she said. "Go ahead."

"There have been no stirrings of discontent," he said. He crouched down to her level. "My father has complained that my abilities are not as valued as he seems to think they should be; apparently the Hokage is not allowing my graduation to be pushed through early."

Sakura was a little puzzled—not by the report, but by the fact that Itachi had sought her out to give it. It wasn't terribly pressing information, and there really wasn't a need for him to _make _reports, as long as Madara was leaving his clan alone. Maybe he just wanted to let her know that he was still keeping an eye out?

"Well," she said slowly, "I suppose there isn't a pressing need to graduate students early. Since we're not at war, I mean."

"That was the argument the Hokage gave as well," Itachi agreed. "He said that we are not hurting for manpower, so it would be more efficient in the long-run for Academy students to spend the full six-year term perfecting the basics. And that I should take the time to learn my yearmates' strengths and weaknesses and how to work with them."

"Sounds like a good plan," Sakura offered, a little hesitantly.

"My father wanted me to make Jounin before I was twelve," he confided.

Sakura blinked; she knew what question came next, it was obvious. And just as she knew that, she knew that Itachi wanted her to ask it. In fact, he seemed to have deliberately steered the conversation in that direction…with rather less subtlety than she'd come to expect of Uchiha Itachi.

Watching his face, she asked his question: "What do _you_ want to do?"

He was Uchiha Itachi, but he was a six-year-old Uchiha Itachi. He didn't have the complete control over himself and his expressions that he would later in his life, so Sakura saw the relief flash across his face before he ducked his head. Perhaps he had been subtle about this before, and nobody had cared to ask.

"I want to graduate early," he admitted softly, surprising Sakura. He was a pacifist; why would he want to move on into the active ninja ranks so soon? "There is nothing more I can learn in the Academy. And I'm already aware of my classmates' stats. I want to graduate early, but I don't want to be placed on a Genin Team. I want to be placed under a mentor, for special training, until my peers graduate."

Partway through his speech he lifted his head to lock gazes with her, and she had no illusions of who, exactly, he wanted to be apprenticed under. Suddenly, everything simultaneously made a lot more sense, and a lot less.

Surprised, Sakura could only stare at him. Finally, she managed to squeak out: "Me?"

Itachi's fear of her rejection had tightened the skin around his eyes, though no other overt sign of his worry showed. Mutely, he nodded.

"Oh. But I… I've never taught anyone before," she said, a little dumbfounded.

"People have often said that I am an ideal student," Itachi offered. "I pick up concepts quickly and with minimal instruction."

"It isn't your scholarliness I'm concerned with," Sakura said. "It's my ability to teach you well enough."

"I looked at the hospital's medic-nin stats. You've been at the top every month since you started there. Even if I only observed you at work, I am sure I would learn more than if I apprenticed with any other medic-nin. They say you have a skill level equal to Senju Tsunade-hime."

Could foxes blush, Sakura was sure she'd be solid red. She mumbled something and shifted paws awkwardly. Itachi bit his lip, then sank smoothly into a very low bow. "Please."

The softness of his voice was the final straw. Sakura sighed. "Fine. I hope you realize just how much this is going to rock the boat."


	31. Sex

_TH: This is the last chapter that I have prewritten. Next chapter is mostly finished, but it's been giving me a bit of grief. Still, I believe it will be on time. I'm going to try really hard to keep up my update schedule. And now that this semester is more or less over, I have a bit more time to type-a-type-a-type-a._

_Not much to say besides that. Please review! I really appreciate it._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-one**

**Theme:: Sex**

* * *

Of all the problems Sakura thought she would have living with Kakashi, she had to admit that this wasn't one of them. She thought maybe that she would have to deal with Kakashi forgetting to feed her, or getting locked out, or something like that.

Sitting at the front door, trying to huddle as close to it as possible to avoid the rain that was driving sideways under the aluminum awning, Sakura put her ears back in discomfort. She really didn't want to be there—she was trying valiantly to ignore the small sounds her sensitive hearing was picking up from inside the apartment behind her—but it was pouring down rain and really, where was she supposed to go?

Huffing a sigh, she considered her possibilities. She could go to Itachi—but it was night, and he would either be asleep or at least at home… which meant if she went to beg a dry corner under their roof, she'd possibly have to deal with Fugaku. She hadn't been lying when she'd told Itachi that his father was scary.

She could also go to Minato… but again, it was pretty late at night, and Naruto would be sleeping for sure. Not to mention that she'd feel guilty bothering Minato; he was the Hokage, and stress was a daily companion. He needed whatever rest and relaxation he could get.

She could also wander off and make a new friend. She couldn't go to her old friends, because they were all infants at this point and Sakura had no connection to their families here. She also couldn't go find her comrades, like Yamato or Genma or Kurenai, because she had no idea even where to start looking for them.

Flinching as something filtered through the door that would probably take years of therapy and mind-soap to purge from her memory, Sakura decided that her situation was dire enough that she probably wouldn't feel _too _guilty about waking up Minato. Standing, bracing herself for the driving rain, she dashed off toward the Hokage's Residence.

The Minato that opened the door was spattered with ink and the hair on one side of his head looked as wild as a lions mane (presumably from running a hand through it several times), but clearly wide awake. Well, at least she hadn't stirred him up from bed. He blinked briefly, staring into the empty night a couple feet over her head, before his eyes dropped. "Oh, Sakura. You're back early from your mission."

"I just got back a little while ago," she said. She'd been sent on a reconnaissance mission, solo, a couple days ago. It was rather brilliant, really, because who would suspect that the wildlife was spying on them?

"Ah," Minato said, then paused. Suddenly, things seemed to penetrate whatever thought haze was drifting around his mind, and he blinked. "Is something wrong? Come in, out of the rain."

"Thank you," she said gratefully, shook herself vigorously to get some of the rain off her coat, and ducked inside before she got soaked again.

"I'll get you a towel," he said, and padded away. Sakura glanced at her wet, muddy paws, and decided to wait in the entrance until he came back.

"So, what is wrong?" he asked, once she'd been (mostly) dried and they'd returned to his study. There were scribbled-on papers everywhere, some with still-wet ink.

"Er… well… The mission went great," Sakura said, awkwardly. "It's just… um… Kakashi obviously wasn't expecting me to come home early…"

She trailed off, but Minato tipped his head, not understanding, and she was obliged to expand a bit more. "He had… company."

Minato stared blankly at her a moment, before realization dawned. All at once, he was roaring with laughter.

"It's not that funny," Sakura muttered. "I think I'm scarred for life."

Perversely, this made him laugh harder. "Hahaha—oh—heehee—sorry—haha—but you were—heh hehe—sexiled…"

"Laugh it up," she muttered. "Traitor."

After a moment, his mirth subsided, and he wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh my. Sorry, it probably isn't as amusing to you, since you were soaked to the bone. I'm just relieved that Kakashi finds some enjoyment in his life; he hasn't had the easiest time of it, and I worry sometimes."

"I'll probably be able to laugh over this in a couple weeks," Sakura admitted. "And really, I can't be mad at him. I am a day earlier than expected."

"True," Minato agreed. "So you came seeking shelter. It's fortuitous, I guess, since I wanted to talk to you about that request you put in."

"About Itachi," Sakura guessed. Minato nodded.

"Do you understand what you're getting into?"

Sakura snorted. "Oh yes, I'm aware of all the complications that are sure to come of my taking the Uchiha Prodigy as my apprentice. But… I do think he has the temperament for medicine, and even if he doesn't have perfect chakra control, he definitely has enough discipline to become a great medic-nin."

"Great?" Minato repeated, greatly sobered now. "Are you confident he will be great? If Itachi will only ever make a mediocre med-nin, I will not allow it. The problems that Itachi, you, and I will face from pushing this apprenticeship through despite Fugaku and the Uchiha Clan's opposition, make it so that unless there is a very good reason, I cannot in good conscience assign Itachi as your student."

Sakura thought about it, and about Itachi. "Itachi wishes to be a healer, not just a killer. He wishes this to the very depths of his soul. I think that his determination will not allow him to be anything less than great."

"Well," Minato said. "That's alright, then."

He leaned back in his chair, and grinned. It was almost Naruto-like in its brightness and mischievousness. "This will definitely get Fugaku's cape-skirt all in a twist."


	32. Toy

_TH: An attempt at writing a nicer Fugaku was given. It failed. I just never really saw him as anything other than a hard-a**, ambitious, prideful. His moment of 'kindness and understanding' with Itachi right before his death seems at odds with everything else we'd been shown of his character. Well. Anyway. That's my opinion._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-two**

**Theme:: Toy**

* * *

When the runner found Sakura and told her that the Hokage requested her presence in his office, the fur on her hackles fluffed a little. She had an idea as to what this was about, and she was sure it wouldn't be a pleasant meeting. Thanking the girl, Sakura trudged toward the Tower. It wouldn't do to keep the Hokage waiting, so Sakura couldn't drag her paws too much, but she wasn't in much of a hurry to meet this conflict. She broke into a half-hearted trot.

Arriving at Minato's office, she saw that her hunch had been correct. Both Minato and Uchiha Fugaku waited inside. And all the sudden, Minato's comment on that rainy night a few days ago about 'cape-skirts' made sense. What _was_ that man wearing? Maybe he was wearing a long robe, and the flack jacket he had over it just made it look like he had an apron on backwards…

One glance at Fugaku's face had Sakura very quickly abandoning her inner mirth. She huffed a sigh and went in.

"Hokage-sama, you wanted to see me?" she asked formally. She tried to keep her attention politely on the Hokage and the Clan Head, and not on Naruto, who was in a little playpen set up in the corner of the room. It was hard to tell without looking, but she thought he was playing with the little toy train she'd gotten him during her mission in Kusa.

"Yes, Sakura-san. Please, come in." His hand gesture toward his desktop indicated where he meant by 'come in.' She trotted up and jumped onto the desk, so that they were all closer to level with each other. She was grateful for it; she didn't really want to spend the whole conversation craning her neck up, and feeling small and vulnerable at Fugaku's feet. "Uchiha-san has come to me with concerns involving you."

"Ah," Sakura said, and bowed a greeting to the grumpy-looking man. "Uchiha-sama."

Being as he was here as the Uchiha Clan Head—as evinced by Minato's addressing him by his clan name—she had to be on her best polite behavior. Which included using the very formal, respectful 'sama', even though it kind of chafed to place herself below him in that way. If he outranked her so much, she wasn't in the best position to help protect Itachi's desire to become a med-nin. Thankfully, she had Minato as her trump card. Hokage beat Clan Head, and the Yondaime agreed that Itachi could be her apprentice.

Fugaku inclined his head the barest amount—a sliver shy of actually being insulting—before turning his attention back to Minato. "Hokage-sama, it is my belief that placing Itachi in an apprenticeship under a medical ninja would be a miscalculation and a gross under-utilization of his combat skills. A ninja with as much potential as he would be wasted as a med-nin."

"Wasted?" Minato echoed with a tilt of his head that suggested he was surprised Fugaku used that description. "I wouldn't agree to such a strong term. Itachi-kun has great mental discipline, and a sharply intuitive mind. Provided his chakra control is up for it, he could be a skilled medic ninja. This was Sakura-san's evaluation, and it was seconded by the hospital's Senior Medic when I sent Itachi to her."

Sakura blinked; that was news to her, but she supposed that Minato had to be doubly sure about Itachi's medical potential for political reasons.

"Itachi is a prodigy with the Uchiha Sharingan, and peerless among the Clan for his abilities with our fire-natured jutsu," Fugaku retorted, looking unswayed.

"Shouldn't Itachi-kun himself be here to defend his decision?" Sakura asked. Fugaku glanced at her.

"Itachi is too young to make such decisions for himself," he said dismissively. Sakura blinked.

"Too young to decide to be a medic-nin, but not too young to kill?" she asked. "Or were you not planning on his accelerated rise to Chuunin and Jounin?"

She supposed that the flat look she got was better than if he'd let his annoyance and distaste to show on his face. Minato cleared his throat. "I agree, Itachi should be here. It is his future we are discussing, after all."

"Very well," Fugaku said stiffly.

So Itachi was called for, and he arrived quickly. He must have been anticipating this, perhaps noticing his father had gone and supposing the reason why. He bowed to Minato. "Hokage-sama, you called for me?"

"Itachi-kun, welcome," Minato said, beckoning the boy closer. "We are discussing your apprenticeship with your father."

Itachi's dark eyes flicked toward his father, his face remaining impassive. "Is there a problem with my request?"

"Not as such. There was some debate as to the prudence of putting you into a medical position rather than a combat one," Minato said. Itachi tipped his head and blinked.

"I have the intelligence and dedication to succeed in medical jutsu. As well, there is always a shortage of medic-nin, so I would be filling an important hole in our ranks. And statistically speaking, teams containing at least one member trained in medical jutsu have a success rate twenty percent higher than those without. Prudence would declare that I pursue this apprenticeship," Itachi said. There was a vague, polite note of puzzlement in his voice, which Sakura thought was a nice touch. As if he hadn't expected to meet resistance on this subject.

"There are holes in our interrogation unit, and holes in ANBU," Fugaku said. "With our Clan's _kekkei genkai_ and advanced Katon jutsu, Itachi's skill set is best suited for these."

"There is a psychological requirement to be met for those positions, unlike for medical ninja," Minato said neutrally. He looked at Itachi, who was standing straight-backed at his full 112 centimeters. Itachi hesitated before admitting lowly:

"I do not think I could meet those requirements."

"There is desensitization training that is available, to—" Fugaku started. Itachi interrupted him.

"There are fundamental ideological differences between what those positions demand and what I believe," he said, perhaps a little sharply. His father stared at him for a moment before gesturing crossly.

"Very well," he said, but his tone very clearly said that nothing was 'well' in this situation. "Take your apprenticeship. But if there is the slightest hint that you are letting yourself stagnate… if you shirk your training with Shisui…"

"Of course," Itachi said.

"Then we're agreed: Itachi will apprentice under Sakura," Minato said. "If you wish, Fugaku-san, I can make it a stipulation of the agreement that you receive weekly reports of Itachi's progress…"

"Yes, very well," Fugaku said again. His face seemed frozen into a mask of cool detachment. But there was no way he was as calm as his façade implied; Sakura imagined that if she looked close enough she could see steam coming out of his ears as he bowed to the Hokage and left.

"Itachi-kun, if you please, there are some official documents to be completed before this apprenticeship begins," Minato said. Itachi turned away from the door.

"Shall I stay as well?" Sakura asked. She wanted a moment to be in Naruto's presence without having to keep all her attention on an angry Uchiha.

"Yes, please. I'll need to talk to you about your mission workload now that you'll have an apprentice," Minato said. "But could you please pop your head out and ask my secretary to come in here for a moment?"

He sent the secretary off to scrounge up the forms Itachi needed to fill out, and sat down behind his desk with a sigh. "So, Itachi-kun. Will completing the training required by your father as well as that required by Sakura-san put too much stress upon you?"

"No," Itachi said quietly. "Shisui is my friend as well as my cousin. He will cover for me if I need him to."

"Good," Sakura said, from where she was tickling Naruto's chin with the tip of her tail. "My training will be demanding, and I don't want you to burn out."

"Shisui will help me keep up appearances," he assured them.

Sakura wondered if this Shisui was the 'best friend' that the Itachi of her time had killed for his Mangekyo. She'd never heard his name, but they seemed to be close, if Itachi thought that Shisui would lie to Fugaku for him. A lot of the finer details of Itachi's tragedy were lost to her; everything she knew came from Madara's smug monologues about how much suffering he'd caused and wasn't it a pity that they couldn't stop him or help those poor people. Bastard.

Watching Itachi lean over his paperwork, his child's shoulders narrow but determinedly set, Sakura realized that she'd just acquired a second child whose happiness she was making it her life's purpose to ensure.


	33. Cat

_TH: Just an FYI, the next update (which will be on Tuesday, December 18) will be the last until January. I'm taking a break for the holidays, so no updates for a little while after Tuesday. Mm'kay?_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-three**

**Theme:: Cat**

* * *

It was the first week after the Academy graduation, and by extension, the first week of Itachi's apprenticeship. True to their word, Sakura and Minato were completing the first of the weekly evaluations Fugaku had insisted upon. It was beginning to occur to Sakura that perhaps that stipulation had been a clever ploy for her to get so sick of paperwork that she gave up the apprenticeship…

Being that he was now inextricably tied into the apprenticeship, thanks to politics, Minato had very kindly decided that he would assist Sakura with the reports. After all, it wouldn't be the most efficient if she had to write them up herself, and the records of in-service ninja were controlled documents… Sakura couldn't just dictate the evaluations to anybody.

Tired from a long day of training Itachi and working her shift at the hospital, Sakura stretched, paws reaching out in front of her, claws extending, her back scrunching up and tail curling. Then she leaned forward, hind legs straightening, before she shook herself all over and yawned. Minato watched her enviously, pen in hand, ensconced in his desk behind a rather impressive pile of papers.

"Animals always seem to have the best stretches," he said, putting his pen down and indulging in a bit of joint-popping himself. Sakura winced as he tilted his head this way and that, to a series of clearly audible cracks.

"You're going to get arthritis," she said as he progressed to rotating his wrists and cracking knuckles. He snorted.

"That is an old wife's tale," he retorted, "and you, Medic-nin-san, know it."

"Caught me," she said mildly. "Are we almost done here?"

Minato made a face and looked over the paperwork. "If you're done with your summary of Itachi's training, I think so. Wait… where'd I put those documents from the hospital…"

Mumbling to himself, he started shuffling papers. Sakura snickered a little, and glanced back at the playpen Naruto had happily been crawling around in for the past couple hours. To her surprise, his bright blue eyes were trained on her, as he cuddled into his blankie, the forelimb of his stuffed toad in his mouth. When he saw her looking at him, he moved the cloth out of the way to give her a bright smile.

_:Awwww,: _she thought, heart melting. She left Minato to his grumbling and searching—she couldn't help anyway, even if none of the paperwork on his desk was confidential. It simply wasn't permitted for anyone but the Hokage to handle the paperwork on the Hokage's desk without official sanction.

Jumping down to the floor, she trotted over to Naruto, who gurgled a laugh and made grabby-hands at her.

"Kitty!" he said. "Kitty!"

Ever since he'd started learning words, he'd called her a kitty. She supposed it was close enough, but she was trying to teach him her name. So far, he could only manage 'Sa', so it was either Kitty or Sa-sa. Both were unbearably cute, though, coming from him.

He caught her tail as she waved it in front of him, patting it and giggling. "Aren't you a cutie?" she cooed at him. "Yes you are! Such a happy baby!"

"Because of you," Minato's soft voice came behind her. She craned her head back.

"Huh?" He was standing behind her, watching with a solemn look.

"Without you, Naruto would have been an orphan," he said. "So I have you to thank for his happiness, in a way. Even though Konoha has programs in place to care for children without families, the life of an orphan is lonely and difficult."

The bleak flatness that lurked at the back of his gaze made Sakura think he spoke from experience. He seemed to shake himself and his focus snapped back to her.

"I don't remember having thanked you, really thanked you, for what you did for me and for Naruto," he started.

"There's no need for it," she said, preempting him. "Every time you look at Naruto I can see how grateful you are."

"Sakura," he said, and she knew he was going to say it anyway. "Thank you."

Flustered, she looked down. "I didn't know who you were when I helped you," she said softly.

"I know. All the more reason why I should thank you," Minato told her. Naruto crawled closer to Sakura and patted her flank. She let him stroke her fur with little clumsy hands, embarrassedly avoiding Minato's gaze.

"I may not have know you then," she murmured. "But I'm glad I know you now."

Minato's hand ruffled her ears like Kakashi-sensei used to ruffle her hair, and Sakura suddenly had to blink back tears.


	34. Happy-go-lucky

_TH: Remember, no updates after this until January! I hope everyone enjoys their holidays and vacations and such._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-four**

**Theme:: Happy-go-lucky**

* * *

"Okay, Itachi. Your execution of the chakra scalpel had developed well enough that we can progress to this," Sakura said, lifting a paw. Itachi looked nonplussed.

"A corpse?" he asked finally, after staring a moment at the body laid out on the morgue table. Sakura chuckled.

"It's how healers train," she said. "You can practice surgery and sutures and many other things without endangering a patient. You'll get used to the smell."

"Hm," Itachi said.

_:Poor kid,: _Sakura thought with a certain amount of glee. When she'd trained with Tsunade, the Slug Princess had openly relished Sakura's green face during their cadaver work. Now that she had her own student, and was no longer affected by the idea of cutting up a dead body or the smell of said body, Sakura could appreciate the sadism. It was something of a rite of passage, the suffering.

"Is there not a seal that could manage the smell?" Itachi asked. There was the smallest of wrinkles at the bridge of his nose.

"Yes," Sakura admitted. "But smell is as much a tool to medics as bandages or chakra. Smell will tell you of poison in a wound, or if an intestine has been punctured, or if a wound is festering. And those smells are not pleasant either; best to get acclimated to foul smells so that when you face them in the course of your actual duties you can work without being affected by them."

Itachi nodded, his face pale but set. _:He really is going to be a great medic-nin…:_

"Alright, now. Shape your scalpel," Sakura instructed. Pale blue-green light shimmered at the tip of Itachi's pointer finger. "Good. Now make the median incision starting at the Adam's apple, all the way down to the pelvis. Dodge to the left of the navel."

Itachi deftly wielded the chakra scalpel, and the pale waxy-seeming flesh of the cadaver part easily and bloodlessly under the blade.

"And now peel the skin back," Sakura said. "A bit farther… good. Now, you're going to need to enhance your chakra scalpel to cut through bone as I demonstrated yesterday. Use it to cut through the ribs on the lateral sides of the chest cavity, then lift the sternum and front section off in a single plate. You may need to cut soft tissue off the back before you can fully remove it…"

Itachi followed her directions without hesitation, and really overall performed very well. He did not have to ask what she meant when she used the technical anatomical terms; he did not falter cutting into the body. He was focused and attentive.

"You did well," Sakura said after they'd cleaned up. "I expect I'll have another glowing review to give your father this week."

While Itachi's expression couldn't have been exactly called happy-go-lucky, there had been a modest, pleased tilt to his lips. As soon as she mentioned his father, though, it disappeared. Sakura did not fail to notice.

"Speaking of your father, is everything alright at home?" she asked delicately.

"Father is still disappointed with me," he said. "But Mother says that she's glad I'm learning how to keep myself safe."

"Well, that's something good, at least," Sakura said. She hadn't really heard much about Sasuke's mother. Itachi nodded absently.

"I think she is also glad that I am learning to heal because she told me that, as Sasuke's big brother, I'm supposed to protect him."

"You have a little brother?" Sakura asked with carefully cultivated interest. Not too much, but with a hint of pleasant surprise.

"Yes," Itachi said. "He will turn two this year."

Imagining toddler-Sasuke, Sakura couldn't help herself. "Awww."

Itachi looked at her. "Do you like children, Sakura-sensei?"

"I do," she said. "But I like them best when they're well behaved and sweet like Naruto-kun."

A true smile graced Itachi's face for a moment. "You would like Sasuke. He is warm and likes hugs, and he always wants me to play when I get home."

"I probably would like him," Sakura agreed quietly.


	35. Writer's Choice- Band aid

_TH: Happy 2013! Hope everyone had a nice holiday season. Updates for this fic will return to the usual Tuesdays and Saturdays._

_In other news SomebodyLost was awesome and kind and has written a little short based on this fic's universe! It's called Going Waysides and came be found in my favorites section._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-five**

**Theme:: (Writer's Choice) Band-aid**

* * *

After Itachi talked about her, Sakura decided that it was time she visited Uchiha Mikoto. She might have an enemy, or at the very least someone who disliked her intensely, in Fugaku, but Mikoto might be a different story. So Sakura drew up her courage and ventured into the Uchiha compound to find Itachi and Sasuke's house.

It wasn't hard to find. While tastefully old-fashioned, the sheer size of it was ostentatious. They _were _the Clan Head's family, but still… Sakura sighed and went up to the door. At least Fugaku was off at his job, and Sakura had left Itachi in the hospital's library with several tombs of a medical encyclopedia, so only Mikoto and Sasuke should be home.

They had a doorbell, thank everything holy. Knocking was somewhat beyond her, her body didn't have the requisite motion capability. She could scratch the door, or give it a body-slam with a bit of chakra reinforcement… But over all, doorbells were easier to work with. Sakura stretched up her whole length and managed to press it. A melodious chime echoed inside. Sakura sat primly on the doorstep, checked to make sure her fur was lying right, and let her tail curl loosely around her to showcase its fluffiness and color.

The door opened to reveal Mikoto, wearing an apron and cradling a sniffling toddler in her arms. Little chubby-faced Sasuke was red-cheeked, lightly crying, and was holding a band-aided finger up and away from him as if distancing it from the rest of him would make it hurt less.

"Oh," Sakura said, brain derailed from her practiced introduction by the sight of Sasuke (chibi, but Sasuke nonetheless!) crying. "Um. Would you like me to heal that?"

Mikoto's face automatically tightened, which was an entirely understandable all things considered. Here she was, a stranger, and the first thing she says is really rather presumptuous. Sakura mentally kicked herself for flubbing her first meeting with the Uchiha matriarch and tried to backtrack. "Excuse me, I'm very sorry. That was rude of me. I'm—"

"Sakura-sensei, Itachi mentor," Mikoto said, her face softening. "And a medic-nin. Please come in."

"Oh. Thank you," Sakura said, still feeling off-center. She stepped into the Uchiha's foyer and wiped her paws on the rug there. "Again, please excuse my rudeness."

"When presented with the sight of a crying child, your immediate thought is to heal the hurt," Mikoto said. "That is nothing to apologize for. Please, I would like you to heal Sasuke-chan."

She led the way into a sitting room, and knelt on one of the cushions there, with Sasuke in her lap. She turned him around to face Sakura and bent her head close to him. "Sasuke-chan, this is Sakura-sensei. She is Itachi's teacher."

"Tachi-nii?" Sasuke sniffled, peering at Sakura, interested by the mention of his big brother. He looked at her pointed face, green eyes, and fuzzy ears. His eyes stalled at the ears, and his expression was easy to read. He wanted to pet them.

"That's right," Sakura said, amused. "I teach your big brother how to heal owies like the one you have on your finger."

At the reminder, Sasuke grabbed his bandaged finger and his lower lip wobbled. "Fell and hurted it."

If he kept up the puppy eyes and adorable child lexicon, Sakura's head was going to explode from cuteness. "You know what would make it feel better, Sasuke-chan?" Sakura asked. "Petting my ears with it."

Sasuke's eyes went big. "Really?"

Sakura nodded and tilted her head toward him. "Yep. Go ahead."

Sasuke gleefully rubbed both hands against her fur. Sakura bore with the petting and molded her healing chakra toward the point of contact. She healed his finger as he rubbed her ears. When she was done, Mikoto said: "Look, Sasuke, your finger is all better!"

Sasuke held both hands in front of his face, and Mikoto removed the band-aid, revealing whole skin. "Wow," he said. He turned wide eyes on Sakura. "Magic?"

"Almost, Sasuke-chan," she said, a smile in her tone. Mikoto shifted him off her lap.

"Do you want to color, Sasuke?" she asked. When he nodded, she led him away, telling Sakura, "Please wait here just one moment."

When she came back, she was bearing tea and Sasuke was ensconced in another room, presumably with plenty of paper and crayons. She poured some tea into a saucer for Sakura, and a cup for herself. "To what do I owe this visit, Sakura-sensei?"

"Please, you can call me Sakura. I'm only sensei when I'm in the hospital." Mikoto tipped her head in acknowledgement, and Sakura continued: "I am here because I am concerned for my student."

"Itachi?" Mikoto said. "Is there something wrong with my son?"

"Well," Sakura said slowly. "It is just that he feels pressured to give up his apprenticeship. He hasn't said anything, but I think it hurts him that his father does not support his endeavor."

"His father has always wished for him to become a combat specialist," Mikoto said. Her dark eyes watched Sakura.

"And you, Mikoto-san? What is your opinion of the matter?" Sakura asked. Mikoto took a sip of tea, and gracefully, precisely set the cup down.

"Itachi has always been dutiful, completing his training and excelling at the Academy, but he has never enjoyed it. He had never taken pride in being a skilled ninja. Until he became your apprentice. Since he has begun studying medical ninjutsu, he has… been more at peace with himself. He has talked more about his two weeks with you than he has all his other training to date. He is… happier." Mikoto smoothed the cloth over her thighs, lifted her eyes, and looked Sakura in the eye. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," Sakura said. "Help me. Support your son."

Mikoto's eyes lowered, hiding the expression in them. After a moment, she looked back up, meeting Sakura's gaze. "I will try."

"If you love your son, you will do more than just 'try'," Sakura said, uncaring if she sounded harsh. She had felt compassion for her timeline's Itachi—he had been placed in a hopeless situation, with no option for a happy ending—but being faced with _this_ Itachi, and having him under her wing as an apprentice… That made his suffering that much more immediate. She knew him; she was his teacher. She was one who stood between him and a life as a killer, an assassin, and she knew that if she stepped aside, the path his clan would set him on would break him.

Brief indignation flashed across Mikoto's face, before she lowered her eyes again, this time in something like shame. "I had seen how our ambitions for Itachi had pressed him back, his soul, his heart. I saw how we were turning him into a wind-up toy soldier, something we could point at enemies and release like a weapon, unfeeling and mechanical. And yet I had not stopped it. Itachi never protested it, but he would not have, would he?"

Sakura was silent, waiting for Mikoto. The Uchiha matriarch looked up, and there was something like steel in her eyes. "I _will _help my son."

Sakura nodded. "Good."


	36. Open Your Eyes

_TH: And here we go!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-six**

**Theme:: Open Your Eyes**

* * *

Tucked away in a far corner of Konoha, nearly against the wall surrounding the Village, was Training Ground Twenty-five. It was one of the least-used grounds, which was why Sakura had trekked out to it specifically. It was secluded, too, separated from the nearest residential or commercial area by thick woods.

Sitting on her haunches in the middle of the clearing, Sakura took a moment to close her eyes and collect herself. _:Alright. I have regained my chakra. I have learned to cast jutsu without handseals. I have warned the Hokage of Madara. I have regained my standing as a medic-nin. I have apprenticed Itachi. And I have accomplished all of this while bound to the form of a fox…:_

She took a breath. Opened her eyes. "So if I can't do this, I have not lost everything. I am still strong."

As a fox, unable to use taijutsu, Sakura's fighting prowess had taken a hit. Her chakra-enhanced strength was really dependent on her ability to use it to augment a punch or a kick. While she could still use it to blast craters into the earth, she could no longer throw a punch that would shatter bones. She could use it as a distraction, but her ability to use it as a direct attack was severely hampered. Perhaps—_perhaps_—she could leap at an enemy, land on them, and jump off with enhanced strength to cause concussive damage… but that put her within the enemy's range, and without hands to block blows, that was nearly suicidal.

But there was _henge_. One of the Academy's three basic jutsu, required to graduate.

When Sakura first woke, her primary concern had been that she'd been turned into a fox, followed shortly by the fact that she'd been tossed back in time. Then, she was concerned with getting back her ability to mold her chakra. And that worry was followed by another, and that one by another… And it was only now that she was allowing herself to worry about _this_.

Sakura reached for her chakra. "_Henge_."

Pain. Agonizing pain was all she was aware of for some time, until her vision cleared and she found herself staring at the grass, the world tilted sideways. She picked herself up, head spinning. "Ow."

She was still four-legged and fuzzy. Clearly, there was something fighting against the transformation jutsu. She assumed that it had something to do with the way she'd been turned into a fox. The Kyuubi's natural chakra had done something to make her new body resist the _henge_. Sakura growled. Of course, this couldn't have been easy.

…Not that that meant she was going to give up. Sakura reached for her chakra again.


	37. If Looks Could Kill

_TH: This chapter is a little light-hearted interlude in the plot. Because we needed more Kakashi. Anyway, there is a loooong author's note at the end of the chapter, with **important** info!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-seven**

**Theme:: If Looks Could Kill**

* * *

"What. The. Hell." Sakura's voice was flat, each syllable clipped. She stood half in/half out of the doggy door Kakashi had graciously installed (and gotten Minato to seal against anyone but Sakura and the ninken), frozen in a potent mix of indignation, anger, exasperation, and memory. She might love Kakashi as she loved Tsunade and Shizune and Naruto and Ino, but there were certain habits of his that she decidedly did _not_ love, even though the familiarity of the sight in front of her constricted her heart.

Inside the apartment, Kakashi jerked, tried to hide his bright orange book behind his back, realized it was too late and brought it back out, then realized he did after all want to hide it and whipped it back behind him. "Uh, er, Sakura… welcome back?"

Sakura growled, stepped all the way in to the apartment, and asked dangerously: "What are you reading, Kakashi?"

"A book written by Jiraiya of the Sannin," Kakashi said evasively, if truthfully. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. If looks could kill…

"That won't save you; I know how big of a pervert the man is. I shudder to think what kind of book he'd write."

"It's not that bad!" Kakashi protested automatically. "It actually has a lot of hidden depth! And the main theme of the nature of forgiveness—!"

"Not to mention the steamy romance…" Sakura interrupted, imitating Kakashi's tone.

Kakashi twitched, then drew himself up and sniffed. "I am an adult and if my literature happens to contain some sex, it is perfectly acceptable."

"_Some _sex?"

"Well…" Kakashi said, and then paused, and some of the embarrassment faded from his expression and he gave her a narrow look of his own. "And how would you know how much there is in this book?"

_:Shit!: _Sakura's brain yelped. Alarmed, though probably not for the reasons Kakashi was expecting, she tried to hide the panic and cover it up.

"Please," she scoffed, thinking fast. "With a title like Icha Icha Paradise and an author like Jiraiya?"

"Hm," Kakashi said, still eyeing her. "You know, this is the first book like this he's written."

"Yes and quite a surprise that is, too," she said, flipping her tail. "As big a pervert as he is, I'd've expected him to have a whole series already. Pity he hasn't done anything more like the Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi."

"You read that?" Kakashi asked, with apparent surprise. Sakura nodded.

"I loved it," she admitted. "The main character… reminds me of someone I knew."

"You know, Minato-sensei and Kushina-san named Naruto after the main character," Kakashi told her.

"I wondered," she said, grinning. "It was either that, or one of them had an unholy love of ramen."

"I think both of them liked ramen in a calm and socially acceptable manner," Kakashi said.

"Presumably, it was the book, then," Sakura agreed. They shared a grin. "I'm going to put my scrolls away," she said, jerking her chin toward the little harness she wore. "And then d'you want to get ramen for dinner? I'm craving it now."

"Sure," Kakashi said. Sakura trotted toward the closet, which Kakashi had converted into a miniature room for her. Halfway there, she paused and said over her shoulder:

"Oh, and Kakashi, don't think I've forgotten about your porn. If I ever see you reading it in public, I will shred it with my pretty little claws."

She could just about feel the beleaguered sigh he huffed silently behind her. She smirked as she went into her room.

* * *

_TH: So, it is one of the existing theories about time-travel that it is impossible, that one cannot travel back in time in their own dimension/universe. However, the corollary of this is that you CAN travel 'back in time' while shifting sideways into a parallel universe. Which is to say, you end up at a point that you would perceive as the 'past', but it is a part of an alternate history where the flow of events is not the same as in your home universe. This is more the approach I have taken in Going Sideways. So there are differences between my story and the canon. Here's a relatively brief explanation of my Madara and my Kyuubi Attack (WARNING SPOILERS):_

_I am willfully ignoring the whole Tobito/Madara thing. I thought he was a much more effective villain just being Madara. I feel that the personality Kishimoto had built previously for Obito (during Kakashi gaiden) is at tremendous odds with how he's acting and reacting to things recently. My rant on the subject could go on for a long time, so I'll just leave it at that. So. Obito is dead, and my Madara is actually Madara. He hates Konoha because of the Senju- he is bitter about 'losing' to them- and the Uchiha- who he feel betrayed him. He also hates them because they took his power from him: Senju Hashirama became Hokage over him, and the Uchiha clan removed him as their leader and exiled him. He tries to amass power for himself (creating unrest in Hidden Villages and making puppet Kage, creating Akatsuki, and taking the Bijuu), and tries to get revenge on Konoha. Because the Kyuubi is generally well under wraps, he jumps at the opportunity presented when the seals weaken on Kushina during childbirth. He sees a grand opportunity to take control of the Fox and strike a powerful blow to the Village at the same time._

_He'd always been surrounded by war and fighting, and built his reputation on his prowess in those things. It is all he knows. He has no purpose in a peaceful world, so he does not want such a world to come about. He comes to enjoy causing suffering for its own sake, and his goals become not just to get revenge on Konoha, but to make them suffer. To make everyone suffer. Madara wants ultimate power over the world, he wants power over life and death, he wants to be a god. He is crazy, but he is also strong and smart, and that makes him very dangerous._

_That is my treatment of his character, and it informs how he acts in my stor(ies). In this story, for the Kyuubi attack/ Naruto's birth he has a few goals._  
_1) he wants to take the power of the Kyuubi for his own purposes_  
_2) he wants to make Konoha bleed, by making the Fox attack the Village_  
_3) by wearing a mask to shield his complete identity, but allowing his general identity as an Uchiha show, he wants to create a schism between the clan and the Village, and this he couples with some hidden influence he exerts on the Clan, trying to create a civil war_

_The start of the attack goes much as it does in the manga. In case they have problems with the Kyuubi, Kushina is taken to a location outside of Konoha-proper to give birth. Madara comes, kills the guards and the medical personnel, and nabs Naruto. Madara threatens to kill Naruto and Minato saves him, and this is where my version and the one shown in canon split. Instead of being separated from Kushina and dropping Naruto off in that little safe room, Minato is there when Madara breaks Kushina's seals and releases the Kyuubi, but he is busy trying to get the exploding tags off of Naruto and can't stop Madara at the same time. Minato snatches Kushina away, but too late, the violent tearing of the Fox from her mortally wounded Kushina and she is quickly dying. Minato lays her down with Naruto a little ways away, and goes back to attack Madara. While they are fighting, Kushina uses the last of her energy to try to seal the Kyuubi back into herself. She holds it for a while, but this ticks off Madara, who attacks her. Minato tries to stop him, but Madara has his phasing ability, and he succeeds. He slits Kushina's throat, killing her. He would do the same to Naruto, but an absolutely furious Minato uses Hiraishin to grab his son, then is forced to use it again as Madara attacks them both. This gives Madara the opening to transport himself to the Village and summon the Kyuubi there. Minato comes back, having dropped Naruto off in a relatively safe place, and he and Madara fight. As in the manga, Minato wrests the Kyuubi from Madara's Sharingan's control, Madara leaves, and Minato has to face the Kyuubi, which is still furious and attacking Konoha even though Madara isn't driving it anymore. Minato knows he will have to seal the Kyuubi into Naruto, so he gets his son and summons Gamabunta to carry them. They force the Kyuubi just outside the walls of Konoha, and Minato starts drawing the sealing arrays as Gamabunta occupies the Fox. And that is where time travelling Sakura jumps in._


	38. Slip

_TH: Look, action!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-eight**

**Theme:: Slip**

* * *

"This isn't a difficult mission," Sakura told Itachi. "We're just going to head east until we hit the Himura River, and then follow that north. Many ninja will treat their blades with an anticoagulant, which makes our job as medic-nin more difficult because patients can bleed out before we even see them. That's why there are pro-coagulant pills in the Small Aid Packs all active ninja carry on missions. If they get hit by a poisoned blade, they can take the pill and hopefully make it to a medic for proper treatment. Anyway, these pills are made from a substance naturally produced in certain plants, which we know grow along the Himura. It's our mission to harvest a few kilos for the hospital."

Itachi nodded understanding. He had a daypack on his back, loaded with containers for the harvested plants, rations, the aforementioned SAPs, inclement weather gear and a few other odds and ends that were common issue for day-long missions. A few of the items were a bit overkill for such a short, simple mission, but it was the general motto of the suppliers (and most of Konoha's ninja) that one could never know what might happen and that one should therefore be prepared for anything.

"Alright, then. We're set. Let's go!"

The Himura River was ideal for Brownstripe, the plant they were looking for, because of its silty banks and bed. The rush-like plant grew well in such soil. It was unfortunate that the closer Naka River had a rocky bottom unsuited for Brownstripe, but the Himura was close enough to not be overly inconvenient.

Sakura and Itachi arrived at the river midmorning, having traveled at three-quarters speed. The work of finding and harvesting the plant was not very labor intensive—it was easily pulled out of the soft soil, and it didn't grow too deep into the river because the water had low light penetrance—so they could afford to push themselves a bit in travelling. They found the first patch of Brownstripe a little over an hour after they hit the river.

…Two hours after that, the ninja found them.

Sakura's ears caught the slight rustlings and the sudden silence of birdsong that heralded human presence, just as Itachi stiffened and stood up from the Brownstripe containers. She _shunshin_'d over to him. "Don't worry," she whispered. "Follow my lead."

The unknown ninja emerged from the nearby forest, and Sakura immediately noted their headbands. Kirigakure. What were they doing this far into Fire Country?

Remembering a bit of her history, Sakura's hackles rose. _:Shit. Isn't this about the time the Yondaime Mizukage was in power? The one that was a puppet-kage controlled by Madara? Shit!:_

"Oh," sighed one of the Kiri-nin putting a hand to his cheek in mock distress. "How unfortunate! We're not supposed to be seen by anybody, and look at this. A boy and his dog…"

Sakura forced her gaze cold and her bearing calm as the four enemy ninja scanned first Itachi, then her, their eyes tracing from her tail to her Leaf _hitai-ate_, tied around her neck like a collar, to her pointed face. They focused their attention back on Itachi, dismissing her.

"Master," she said to Itachi, but loud enough that they could hear her as well, "I smell poison on their weapons."

"Thank you," Itachi said coolly, following her cue. He stepped toward them one measured pace. "You are trespassing on Konoha-controlled lands, and your bearing suggests that this is without permit. Surrender yourselves into Leaf custody, or suffer the consequences."

Two of the four laughed nastily at this, the other two spitting to the side and flashing sunlight off the edge of a kunai, respectively. "Boy," said the one who seemed to be the spokesman for the group, "you can't hope to stop us from doing whatever we want."

With the last word, he hurled a kunai of his own at them, and Sakura and Itachi dodged. She heard the rasp of Itachi drawing a handful of his own kunai, and the rapid _clang cling clang _of parried blows.

She knew he could take care of himself, so she slipped into the undergrowth, evading the Kiri kunoichi who'd lunged after her. Hidden under the broad leaves of a low bush, Sakura concentrated chakra toward her paws, and sent it writhing in great ropes under the soil. The Kiri-nin shrieked as three dragons of soil and rock erupted from the ground around her.

Sakura bounded away, searching for a new opponent. He found her first. Yelping, she dodged and ran and jumped away from the reaching tendrils of animate water that were presumably trying to grab her and drag her into the river. The shinobi directing them was smirking, eyes narrowed with bloodlust, his fingers twitching as he sent the water whipping toward her again and again.

She stomped the ground, sending shockwaves out to him. He staggered, his jutsu breaking, then rallied right away. He used a technique Sakura remembered from Team Seven's fight with Zabuza: the hidden mist jutsu. Thick, obscuring mist boiled up from the river and the ground itself, decreasing visibility sharply.

Also distressingly sharp were the senbon that came winging out of the mist toward Sakura. One clipped her, and she felt the burn of poison in the wound, but a flick of her chakra burned it away almost immediately. Then the shinobi burst through the mist in front of her, and she was forced to execute some acrobatics to evade his attacks.

He was fast. He kicked her, and Sakura felt a rib or two snap as she hit a tree trunk. He followed up by grabbing her and lifting her as if he would dash her against the ground. In pain and furious, she twisted in his grip, snarling wordlessly, and savaged his hands with her sharp teeth. He cursed and dropped her, blood splattering the ground from his wounds.

Sakura spat out one of his fingers and growled, low and menacing. The adrenaline and the taste of blood were like stimulants, heating her blood and heightening her senses. The fox instincts inherent to her body were howling at her to finish the hunt, to protect her kit. Her human mind was saying much the same thing, though its plans were far more detailed and bloody.

She skulked through the mist, following the sound of the shinobi's fervent curses and the bloodtrail from his ruined hands. When she knew she was close enough, she broke the ground, and he fell hard, with a cry of pain as he automatically tried to catch himself and landed heavily on his wounds. Sakura leaped over him, lashing with a paw equipped with chakra scalpels. He died with a gurgle, and the mist lessened appreciably, though it didn't dissipate completely.

"_Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu_!" Itachi said somewhere in the fog. There was a roar, and the largest fireball Sakura had ever seen blazed through the remaining mist. The Kiri-nin Itachi was fighting dodged and rolled to his feet.

"Going to have to do better than that, little sapling," he mocked. Sakura saw Itachi's jaw set and his eyes bleed red. The Kiri-nin hooted with laughter. "Well what do we have here? You've been holding out on me! You're a little baby Uchiha!"

He charged, and Itachi rushed to meet him, and there was a blur of movement too fast for Sakura's eyes to follow. But they parted again, with the Kiri ninja clutching one shoulder, blood oozing over his fingers from a deep wound across his deltoid muscle. He bared his teeth at Itachi. Sakura felt a chill of premonition and staggered to her feet, broken ribs twinging.

"Brat," the shinobi snarled, and rushed Itachi with purpose. At the same time, a wave rose from the river, arching over Itachi head; the young Uchiha moved to avoid that, because once the Kiri ninja got him in the water—in the Kiri ninja's element—it would be over. So Itachi chose the other option, meeting the enemy head on… which was exactly what the Kiri shinobi expected. His kunai was angled to take Itachi right in the gut.

But he didn't expect to be staring straight into Itachi's whirling crimson eyes, as the young boy launched himself into the air, putting himself right face-to-face with the enemy. Itachi landed on the other side of the Kiri shinobi, who had frozen in place, his gaze unfocused.

Genjutsu. Itachi had used his Sharingan to trap his enemy in a strong genjutsu, immobilizing him. Sakura let out a breath of relief, and stepped out toward Itachi.

Her apprentice stood still, his hand pressed to his side. He wobbled, and peeled the hand away, red with blood. Sakura's heart leapt into her throat. He'd been hit! And then her heart nearly stopped as she saw the ground under his feet shift, at the same time the Kiri shinobi twitched and started to turn around…

"Itachi!" she shouted, and her chakra rushed up like a tsunami or an avalanche…

The _kawarimi _replaced Itachi with Sakura, whose pink hair fluttered around her waist, unbound.

It had taken her weeks (and a certain amount of help from Minato) to work out how to _henge_, but to see the shock on her enemies' faces it was well worth the trouble. It was still hideously difficult for her to change her appearance—it actually necessitated that she use natural energy to combat whatever the Kyuubi's natural chakra had done, a feat that took a good deal of her own chakra and was frustratingly difficult—but in this instance it was the better plan. The kunoichi Sakura had gotten with the earth dragons at the beginning of the fight had come back; clearly the jutsu had not finished her as Sakura had thought. The wretch had come back, and gone after Itachi, tunneling under him in preparation for an assassination technique. Sakura had replaced Itachi with herself so that she'd be in the position to end this fresh wave of assault, but she'd needed her human hands to catch the kunoichi's kunai-wielding fist. However difficult it was, _henge _did that for her.

Sakura had taken a page from Naruto and Minato's books when she'd crafted the transformation, so she appeared clad in a long loose jacket that blew out around her with satisfying drama. It was black where Naruto's had been red and Minato's white, with white mountain stripes along the hem instead of flames. A stylized white cherry blossom was emblazoned between her shoulder blades.

Intimidation was an important tool in the ninja arsenal. Holding the Kiri kunoichi's wrist in one hand, the other propped on one hip, her jacket flaring out behind her, Sakura felt quite thoroughly badass.

That feeling was perhaps diminished by the fact that her head was spinning from the drain of all her recent jutsu and the strain of holding the _henge, _but she also had a good amount of pure, white-hot fury running through her veins, which set her stance as stone and steadied her against the beginnings of chakra exhaustion.

Letting that fury drive her, Sakura lifted her free hand and casually used it and the precise application of her chakra scalpels to tear out the kunoichi's throat. Dropping the body, Sakura stared at the remaining Kiri shinobi, the one who had been fighting Itachi.

He'd completed his turn just in time to see Sakura dispatch his last comrade, and the shock was just fading from his face.

"Bitch!" he said, low and angry. Sakura shook her hair back and retorted:

"Fool."

His face was pale from the bloodloss from the injury Itachi had inflicted, and it seemed the genjutsu had left him slightly disoriented. He swayed as he set himself into a stance and started forming handseals.

Sakura ran at him as he went through them as fast as he could. She leapt at him just as he said: "_Suiton: Rekkuu Suigeki_!"

Letting go of her _henge _in-flight displaced her slightly in her trajectory, and made her a smaller target, so the ice spears whistled past her harmlessly. Sakura's front paws connected with his forehead, and she quickly channeled a jolt of chakra into him.

He dropped like a rock. Sakura herself landed less than gracefully, hurt and tired and nearly completely out of chakra. Yet the first thing she did was look for Itachi.

He was coming toward her, moving with tender care toward his wound. Sakura asked wearily: "You alright?"

"Yes," he said, reaching her. "I was able to partially heal myself with what you've taught me so far. Are you alright, sensei?"

"I may need you to carry me back. And take me to the Inuzuka; I am injured and I don't have the chakra to heal myself." Itachi didn't know fox anatomy, so wouldn't be able to do so either. "But first, set a genjutsu around this area; we don't want just anyone stumbling upon this. Once we get to Konoha we'll need to send a team to retrieve the bodies. And Interrogation will want to have a chat with him."

She nodded at the last Kiri ninja, insensate nearby.

"Understood," Itachi said.

"Good," Sakura said, and passed out.


	39. Glass

_TH: Canon states that something happened to Itachi at four (vaguely described as his witnessing lots of people die) to make him a pacifist. _

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-nine**

**Theme:: Glass**

* * *

Itachi had a stiff fabric sling keeping his left arm immobile. The newly-healed tissues of his torso and pink, new skin weren't very resilient as of yet, and it was possible that incautious movement would tear the wound open again. The doctors, evidently not familiar with Itachi's maturity (or perhaps simply ignoring it), had bundled Itachi's arm in the sling to forestall such a complication. He seemed to bear this stoically, informing his father that he was under medical orders to abstain from combat training until given clearance by the doctors.

Sakura suspected Itachi's apologies on that score to be entirely feigned. Not that she blamed him; she had never met anyone whose ideology was so unsuited for combat as Itachi's. If he hadn't possessed such strict self-control, he never would have passed the psych evaluations all Academy students were given. He would have been marked as lacking the requisite willingness to cause harm, and Sakura suspected that he would then have been placed in a desensitization program. Fugaku had essentially admitted to viewing such things as acceptable courses of action.

Anyway, Itachi was excused from physical activity, but half of all med-nin work was theory. So Sakura was going to take advantage of the situation had have Itachi hit the books. First, though, she had some questions for him.

She knew the gist of what had happened to him in her timeline, but the details had not been expanded upon. Considering she was now pretty close to the boy, she figured she should know those details.

They were in a closed study room in the Village's library, a stack of scrolls and books on the table. Sakura was perched on the other end of the table, crisp white bandages swathing her body from her visit to the Inuzuka's specialized healers. She looked at Itachi where he sat in the chair across from her.

"How developed is your Sharingan?"

"I have two tomoe in my right, and the full three in my left; Shisui and my father expect that I will master it in about a year."

Sakura nodded; that Itachi had mastered the Sharingan at eight had been one of those stats that she'd been aware of in her timeline. It became one of the stats the Bingo Books used to impress how dangerous he was—_mastered the Sharingan at eight… slaughtered his whole clan… S-class… flee-on-sight…_ It sounded like her stepping in and diverting his training hadn't altered that particular aspect.

"When did you activate your Sharingan?"

He stared at the tabletop silently for a while, and Sakura, familiar by now with his moods, knew to let him be for a moment. At length, he started slowly: "The Third Shinobi War was still going on when I was four. Many of my Clan were injured or killed. One of those was my grandfather, then the Clan Head. We received a missive from one of the mobile medical units that he was mortally wounded. My mother and father had to go to him, since Father would succeed him. For whatever reason, they decided to take me as well.

"The mobile medical unit… was bad. There were dead and injured everywhere—there wasn't nearly enough room for them all. The injured were on cots scattered everywhere, their wounds given only hasty and messy care until the medics could see to them properly. The wait was long and some of them died before they were seen. Some were _allowed _to die, as triage had been employed and it was deemed that their wounds were too severe for them to survive without extensive healing. The medics weren't seeing patients like that because they had to ration their energy; they had to choose between saving one or helping many.

"Somehow, I got away from my parents and ended up in the Category 0 tent." He paused, and something left his eyes, some spark, some brightness, and left them flat as black glass. Sakura's stomach swooped. Category 0 was the triage level used to denote those whose chance of survival was slim to none. Protocol stated that they were to be given analgesics if possible, but that was the extent of treatment allocated for them. As cold as it sounded, they were set aside to wait for death. The only time extra effort was expended on them was when they were high-command, a personage of import. In those cases, the medics were required to make every attempt to save the patient's life, even if it meant using up all their chakra and thus consigning however many other patients they could have saved with it to death. "There were… Genin there… as well as Jounin and Chuunin. And during the war Genin meant people the age I am now. Mostly they silent, unconscious. But some were awake, and screaming, and crying. One was just staring at the ceiling, shaking hard enough to rattle the cot they'd put him on…"

Itachi blinked and looked at Sakura. "I don't remember exactly why or how, but ever since that day I have been able to use my Sharingan."

"I see," Sakura said, unable to think of anything else to say. She felt a little heartsick to think of a child—any child, but especially Itachi, who doubtless had understood more of what was going on around him than any other child his age—witnessing the terrible necessity of emergency triage. Under any other circumstances, those people would not have been stuck in a tent and left to die, given only painkillers to blunt the edge of hopelessness. But given an overwhelming number of patients and limited resources…

"That was also when I began to despise the path my family had laid out for me," Itachi added softly.

"You realize that, in a similar situation, as a medic, you will have to follow triage protocol, don't you?" Sakura hesitated to ask, but it was important that Itachi have no illusions about this new path he'd chosen for himself.

"Yes," he said, looking at her. "I know. Friends and family may be killed, I may lose a patient, I may have to kill to protect others… There is no avoiding death in this world."

"This is the truth that we live," Sakura said. "It is a painful one. Others have tried to change it, and more still try. Some of them give up, some never stop trying. You and I, I think, are part of the latter group. But until the truth of this world changes, there is the pain. Can you bear it?"

Itachi's face was refreshingly open. "I will bear the painful truth of this world because I believe it can change."

"If only there were more people like you in the world, Itachi-kun," Sakura smiled at him. Blushing faintly, Itachi ducked his head.

"Thank you, Sakura-sensei."


	40. Sovereign

_TH: I finally found the time to beat Skyward Sword last night. That just might be my second favorite Zelda game, supplanting Link to the Past (Ocarina of Time is number one, of course). Playing one video game really makes me think of all the others I wish I had time to play. I really REALLY want to replay FFVI; I haven't played it since... well lotsa years ago. And it's my favorite game of all time._

_Anyway, on to the chapter._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Forty**

**Theme:: Sovereign**

* * *

Itachi and Sakura had been out of the hospital (and vet, though it rankled Sakura a bit to say it that way, even though logically she understood the personnel in the hospital did not have the requisite knowledge of canid anatomy to properly treat her) for a couple days before Minato had the time to see them and get their verbal report on what had happened. Itachi had scribbled out the written reports, one for himself and one that Sakura dictated to him, for the mission archives almost immediately after they got back, but for a mission where the actual events went far beyond the stated parameters, they needed to debrief with the Hokage.

Naruto was in his usual spot, which made Sakura wonder when Minato was going to stop bringing his son into the office. Naruto was probably hearing a dozen top-classified Village secrets a day, and when he started babbling and repeating things he heard, as children learning to speak do, it might become a problem. Unless, of course, Minato had a silencing seal woven around Naruto's playpen to address such concerns. In any case, Naruto was completely content with where he was, and grinned at Sakura from over the giant stuffed toad toy he was cuddling. His gap-toothed smile—he hadn't yet gotten a full set—made Sakura melt a little inside. Such adorable children should be outlawed, so great was their power.

But Sakura was there on important business, so aside from waggling her ears at him, Sakura didn't react to Naruto. With Itachi, she approached the Hokage's desk.

There were a few others in attendance as well, including the former Hokage Sarutobi, a man she recognized as Kurabi-san from the T&I Force, and another man she instantly pegged as a younger version of Shikamaru's father.

"Sakura, Itachi," Minato greeted. "I have asked Sarutobi-sama, Kurabi-san from T&I, and Shikaku-san from the Intelligence Department to sit in on the debrief, as from your preliminary written reports it would seem much more than a simple requisition mission occurred last week."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Sakura replied. Shikaku was watching her with calculating gleam in his eyes. Sakura glanced at Minato, who nodded minutely. She'd known Sarutobi and Kurabi knew of her secret, and she'd told Itachi herself. Minato must have told Shikaku so everyone in the room would be on the same page.

"You may give your report now," Minato said. Sakura, having been the leader of the mission, gave her version first, and then Itachi gave his. When they were done, Minato gave Sakura a thin smile. "So the _henge _does work in a practical application."

"Aside from the adverse side-effects, yes," Sakura replied. During her attempts to figure out how to henge, she'd bowed to the inevitable and asked for help. Minato had been the one to work out the fact that she needed to use natural chakra to augment her own for the _henge_. He'd also acted as a spotter when she was first learning to draw in natural energy from her surroundings.

"With practice, those side-effects should lessen a little in severity," Minato said. "It'll never be easy, but it will at least become _easier_."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," she said. His smile widened slightly, then faded out completely as he returned to the more sobering topic at hand.

"Kurabi-san, what can you tell us about the prisoner Kiri ninja?"

The bearded T&I shinobi frowned. "He has resisted our first line interrogation tactics. We may need to resort to harsher methods."

"He has yielded no information?" Minato asked, frowning himself. Kurabi shook his head.

"He refuses to even open his mouth. We don't even know his name. Whoever he is, he has extensive training in resisting hostile interrogation and, I presume, the same will be true for torture."

"There is a compound…" Sakura started, and trailed off when everyone directed their attention to her. She paused then continued: "There is a compound that can be injected intravenously that causes fever and hallucinations in the victim, and makes them highly suggestible. Asking them questions yields truthful answers that they don't even remember why they were keeping secret. Effectively, it is a truth serum. However, it is dangerous to use because of its physiological effects. Victims may go into cardiac arrest, and/or start seizing, and/or suffer permanent nerve damage. The calculated risk percentage is 80 percent for permanent damage, 65 percent for death. It's a last resort."

"I have never heard of such a compound," Shikaku said. Sakura recalled that his family had an interest in medicines.

"It's largely theoretical," she admitted. It was largely theoretical because it had been a joint project between Shizune and Sakura in her other past… which was nearly fourteen years in the future, from a certain point of view. And even when they'd been working on it, they had never gotten past the laboratory phase, because of the high risk potential for its use. "But I could make it."

The others seemed to be either taken aback or curious at her declaration. Shikaku's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, and he asked: "Who were you before you came here?"

It surprised Sakura; she expected that he would wonder that, but she didn't think he'd ask so bluntly. It made sense, she supposed. If asking outright didn't work, he could always try to trick the answer out of her. Nara were good at that.

"I would like to like to leave that part of my past in my past," she answered, not unkindly. "But I can swear to you I was never a part of a Village other than Konoha."

"I will vouch for her integrity," Minato said. Sakura felt a rush of pleased embarrassment, and gratitude. She cleared her throat.

"There is one bit of information I did not include in my reports, because it is rather sensitive."

"Are you comfortable disclosing it now?" Minato asked. Sakura nodded. She more or less trusted all the people in the room.

"The Yondaime Mizukage is under Uchiha Madara's control. Literally; he is not just following Madara's orders, it is hand-in-glove puppetry. Madara is sovereign in Kirigakure, though their ninja don't even realize it."

There was a shocked, grim silence as everyone digested that.

"Was the Mizukage always under Madara's influence?" Sarutobi asked.

"I don't think so," Sakura said. "But I don't know the full story. I just know for certain that at this moment he is Madara's puppet. I'm concerned that this Kiri squad Itachi and I encountered had some sinister purpose in Fire Country. Since Madara's last stab at Konoha was mostly thwarted, he may be looking for ways to make us bleed."

"I would agree with that assessment," Sarutobi said. "Your reports describe the Kiri ninja as equipped for stealth, and the apparent leader had said that they weren't to leave any witnesses to their presence."

"But what was their intent?" Minato mused aloud. "No insult meant to your abilities, but if they had been specialized assassins, you would not have taken them out so easily."

"No insult taken," Sakura and Itachi said. They'd already thought the same thing. That the Kiri ninja had underestimated them did not account for the complete success Sakura and Itachi had won.

"And they didn't have the equipment to indicate that they were on an espionage mission," Minato added. "So what was their purpose?"

There was a silence, then Itachi said quietly: "To test us?"

Minato's bright blue eyes fixed on Sakura's apprentice, and from the corner of her eye, she saw Shikaku nod and smile ever so slightly. "To test us…" Minato's gaze went absent as he thought this through.

"To test Konoha's borders, to test our strength, to test our will. Maybe Madara only wanted to see if we had weakened at all since the Kyuubi attack. Maybe he wanted to see how far he could get a strike team into Fire Country. Maybe he wanted to see if he could send in a weaker, expendable team, and have them fight and win against a Konoha patrol…" Minato hummed thoughtfully. "Yes, I wonder…"

He shook his head to bring himself back into the moment. "We'd need more information to confirm that suspicion. Sakura, can you truly make that compound you mentioned, and how long would it take?"

"If the hospital is stocked with all the chemicals, I could make it in three days," she said. Minato nodded.

"Do so. Kurabi-san, keep trying to wear down the prisoner. If this compound has the potential to kill him, it would be best if he broke before we had to use it. A dead prisoner gives us no information."

"Understood."

"Shikaku-san, see if you can sift through our reports on Kiri and try to build a better picture of this Mizukage-Madara connection. Sarutobi-sama, if you could stay, I'd like to discuss some things with you. Alright, thank you, everyone. Dismissed."

As they all filed out of the Hokage's office, Shikaku casually ambled up next to Sakura and Itachi. "You know, Itachi-kun, you made a fair few of the Intelligence Department officers cry when you took up an apprenticeship with a medic-ninja. They'd had their eyes on you for a while."

Itachi blinked twice, which for him was about on the level of a jaw-drop. He looked up at Shikaku and stared a second before saying: "Thank you, Nara-san."

It was no wonder why Itachi had never heard that Intel had hoped to get Itachi into their Department; trying to persuade Fugaku to let his prodigal son become a desk ninja would have been ten-fold more difficult than it had been to persuade him to let Itachi become a med-nin. It didn't matter that most viewed the Intel Department as terrifyingly, make-your-brain-bleed smart; it didn't have the power and impact of being a combat hero.

Shikaku lifted an eyebrow at Sakura. "Sensei," he said, tilting his head in a lazy salutation.

"Trying to steal my student, Nara-san?" Sakura asked lightly. He smirked at her.

"Kid should know his options," Shikaku said. "Keep us in mind, Itachi-kun, should this medic thing not pan out."

And with that, Shikaku moseyed off down a different hallway. Sakura shook her head, liking him despite his playing devil's advocate. He had an understated, dry sense of humor.

"Was he serious?" Itachi asked hesitantly, staring after him.

"About Intel wanting to have you join their department? Yes, I think so. Shikaku wouldn't lie like that." Sakura paused. "I wouldn't be angry if you did."

Itachi looked at her, his expression bordering on hurt. "I wouldn't leave, Sakura-sensei."

"I just want you to know that you always have options open to you," she said. His look softened.

"Thanks, sensei."


	41. Quote

_TH: I know there are actually profiles for Sakura's parents, but those were in a movie, which I don't consider canon. So I've taken liberties with her father's character._

_Also, someone mentioned that Sarutobi's wife was present at Naruto's birth, and was killed there (she was one of the midwives). I started writing this story before that chapter of the manga was released, and I didn't see any reason to rewrite what I had. There wasn't much there that really changed the plot, and the details seemed extraneous. Why was Biwako there? Why was she Sarutobi's wife? It just seemed like a name drop, Kishimoto going 'hey look! It's Sarutobi's wife!' She didn't play a very important role in the events- she didn't have anything to do with security, or helping with the Kyuubi's seal... she was a midwife; most medical ninja could have played her role. It wasn't really important that she was the Third's wife, and it certainly was never mentioned again in the canon. To tell you the truth, I had even forgotten who she was in the intervening time between when I read the chapter to when the reviewer reminded me. That's how important it was. :\_

_I've already changed some things about what happened in _this _timeline's kyuubi attack. That one of the midwives was Sarutobi's wife is another of those things. So Biwako didn't die during the Kyuubi attack. Savvy?_

_Anyway, thanks for everyone's continued support. I really appreciate it!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Forty-one**

**Theme:: Quote**

* * *

"Sakura-sensei, can I ask you a question?"

"Hm?" Sakura looked up from her textbook at Itachi, who'd turned away from his own thick tome and was watching her unblinkingly. "Sure, go ahead."

"Your _henge_…" he said slowly "…is that what you really looked like?"

"Well, aside from the snazzy coat, yes. I used my former appearance for the _henge_," Sakura replied.

"So you really have pink hair?" Itachi asked, his brow scrunching.

"Yep," Sakura replied. Itachi was silent a moment.

"Is Sakura your real name?"

"Yes…"

"Oh." Itachi looked vaguely disappointed. Sakura smiled slightly. People generally had two reactions when they paired her name with her appearance: either they (rather inanely, Sakura thought) said that it fit her perfectly, or they looked like they pitied her for the bad joke her parents had played on her.

"I was bald when I was born, so no, my parents didn't name me for my hair," she said. "They weren't quite so unimaginative. Though they weren't very surprised when my hair grew in pink; my father's hair was magenta. He was a civilian refugee from Uzushiogakure."

"Why are you telling me this?" Itachi asked. "I thought you told Nara-san that you didn't wish to talk of your past."

Sakura hummed. "I said I didn't want to talk about who I was before this all happened," she waved her tail expansively. "Knowing such vague tidbits about my family isn't going to give much away, but I'm still not going to be naming names or places."

Itachi nodded. They read for a little while, then Itachi asked: "Is it because it's dangerous? You said you were never a part of a Village other than Konoha, but…"

"Dangerous for me," she said. "I know things that certain people would be very angry with me for knowing."

"Madara," Itachi guessed. Sakura nodded.

"His modus operandi is secrecy. By keeping his hand in events secret, he can cause divisions in allies, rifts in friendships, chaos among nations."

"But you know a lot about what he's doing, or trying to do," Itachi pointed out.

"He has been my enemy for a long time," Sakura said. "And I have been both careful and lucky. Still, I know that he is clever, and that he is also careful. Just uncovering his secrets will not be enough to stop him."

"Is that why you joined Konoha? To have the support of a Village?"

Sakura looked at Itachi, surprised. "No. I joined because Minato-sama was here. And Naruto. And Kakashi, and you. I joined Konoha because I saw people here I wanted to protect. And knowing Madara had his sights set on Konoha, could I have turned away? I knew things that could help you all, and Minato-sama offered me a place when I had none."

"I see. I'm sorry."

"No…" Sakura said. "I've never really talked about my motivations. And what you suggested is only logical. But I'm afraid I've always had trouble leaving my emotions out of my decisions."

"I like that," Itachi said. He met Sakura's eyes. "Shisui sometimes says that all the logic in the world won't help you live with yourself if you do something that's against your beliefs."

"That's very true," Sakura said, even as she thought about what had happened to her time's Shisui and Itachi and felt sick. It was a wonder that other Itachi had lived with himself for as long as he had, but she supposed he forced himself for Sasuke's sake.

_:It's about five more years until the Massacre happened in my timeline… And there haven't been any stirrings of discontent among the Uchiha. Maybe everything I've done and Minato has done is working. Or maybe Madara hasn't started subverting them yet. Or maybe he has and we just haven't caught the signs… Oh, I really hope it doesn't happen…: _Sakura breathed in, then out, and forced her attention back on her reading.


	42. General

_TH: Gruuuuu..._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Forty-two**

**Theme:: General**

* * *

There was an inherent problem with gaining information from prisoners via torture. While the threat of torture could motivate a prisoner to divulge his or her secrets, there is always the chance of that information being false. Prisoners may lie—even under torture—in an attempt to tell the questioner/torturer what he or she wants to hear. After all, if they get the information they want, they might stop hurting you. All Hidden Villages have to deal with this pitfall, and each does it in a different way. Some use truth serums, no matter what the side-effects, to make sure they gain the truth. Some use jutsu.

Konoha was in the latter group. With jutsu similar to the Truth Chamber that Sakura had experienced when she'd first come to the Village, they were able to secure the truth with some confidence. The only trick was getting the prisoners to talk, because no matter how talented they were at determining truth from lie, it didn't matter if they had nothing to test.

In any case, they got the Kiri ninja to talk, and they determined the truthfulness of what he'd said. It wasn't the most encouraging. He and his Team had been sent into Fire Country in order to gauge the security that was in place around the Village and the Hokage. What had been postulated before—about other Villages wondering how 'together' Konoha was after the intensely damaging attack of the Kyuubi—was true. The Mizukage wanted to test the borders of the countries surrounding his, possibly to test the waters for some larger movement. The captured Kiri ninja was not sure if there was something of the sort in the works; he and his kind were not privy to that kind of information.

Aside from that worrisome information, he divulged some other choice tidbits that were of more general concern… though that in no way decreased how disturbing the information proved to be. Kiri—already holding a reputation for being 'bloody'—had been growing steadily more militant, and more unforgiving. They had established a new graduation test for their prospective ninja—live or die. They pitted their Academy students against each other in fights to the death. Also, propaganda programs had begun to turn the population, civilian and ninja, against the other Hidden Villages, even those Villages that Kiri currently held alliances or peace-treaties with. Kiri was becoming increasingly closed-off, paranoid, and viciously aggressive. None of which boded well for Konoha, considering the man at the helm was nursing a decades-long grudge against the Leaf.

Konoha couldn't do much about the situation without invading Kiri, which was more likely to make things worse than to solve anything. All Konoha could do, really, was affirm their own allies, plan for the worst, and keep a wary eye on Kiri.


	43. Journey

_TH: SomebodyLost wanted to know if Sakura would have a nickname, like Kakashi is Sharingan Kakashi or the Copy Ninja. My first knee-jerk thought was 'nah' but then I thought about it... and came to this conclusion: Nicknames seem to be given to just about everybody. Yellow Flash, White Fang, Copy Ninja, Bloody Habanero, Legendary Sucker, etc etc. It seemed the most important qualifier to get a nickname is to be unusual or have some unusual ability that people take notice of. While fox!Sakura isn't going to be winning many combat awards in this new timeline, she has notoriety in simply being a fox as well as in being a fantastic medic-nin. So it wouldn't be surprising if she was given a nickname, at least among her comrades. So. Hanagitsune. It's hana 'flower' and kitsune 'fox' contracted, for an approximate nickname of 'Fox Flower' or 'Flower Fox' (the k in kitsune becomes a g in the romanization when it is contracted with a word in front of it- there is a monster in real world legend called hagoromogitsune, a legendary sword called kogitsune, and probably some other examples). So there you have it._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Forty-three**

**Theme:: Journey**

* * *

Sakura liked Suna a great deal less as a fox than she did as a human. It was hot enough that she couldn't help but pant like a common dog, dry enough that her fur felt brittle and coarse, and the sand coated all of her with a thin film of grit. While tromping around in open-toed sandals in the sand had irritated her to no end as a human, feeling the sand cling in her fur made her want to scratch someone's eyes out. Eyes narrowed grumpily, and tail lashing with displeasure, she was glad that Kakashi was there. Someone was going to have to put on the blandly pleasant diplomatic face for their hosts, and Sakura didn't think she'd be able to manage.

While Suna and Konoha had a rather turbulent history, at the moment they were enjoying a time of relative peace. One could not go so far as to say they were friends, not like when Gaara had taken up the mantle of Kazekage and pledged his support and friendship to Naruto's Konoha, but at the very least they were not actively trying to destroy each other.

Really, it was as much as Sakura could ask for. She knew Kumo was antsy, wanting to get their hands on Konoha's _kekkei genkai_, and Kiri was under Madara's covert rule. Iwa had never particularly liked Konoha, although right now they were still licking their wounds, and they probably would never try anything as long as Konoha's Yellow Flash was Hokage.

"Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, sends greetings to Sunagakure's Yondaime Kazekage, and offers this gift as a token of the Leaf's continued wish for peace between our Villages," Kakashi said in formal tones, allowing one of the Kazekage's political aides to take the large scroll from him. It was an oversized scroll with ornate rollers, tied with large brightly colored tassels and sealed with an elaborate wax seal. It contained a specialized _fuuinjutsu_ Minato had formulated especially for this purpose, something that would not have any significant combat application, but would be helpful and welcome nonetheless.

"We thank the Hokage for his generosity," the Kazekage said, face expressionless, voice perfectly distantly polite. "And we are honored by the respect shown in sending the son of the White Fang, and noteworthy shinobi in his own right, Hatake Kakashi, as diplomatic ambassador to us."

A warning that they knew who Kakashi was and what he was capable of, wrapped up in political jargon and couched in a compliment. This was one of the reasons Sakura hated politics. It was too bad she was a fair hand at them; in her other timeline, she'd gotten stuck with the same job Kakashi had right now a couple times. That she was good at diplomacy made it in no way more palatable to her.

She sat at Kakashi's feet, head up, ears perked, eyes bright and wide, paws and tail arrayed neatly. The _hitai-ate _tied loosely around her neck had been noted by all who had seen her, and not dismissed. They never quite let her out of their sight, even if occasionally they allowed her to skirt the periphery of it. The stereotype of the cagey Suna ninja was well-earned.

Sakura herself was feeling pretty cagey as well. She was well aware of where and when she was, and she knew that _this _Kazekage was bitter toward Konoha. She also was well aware of the fact that he'd sealed the Ichibi into his third-born child. Gaara. Her heart ached that she couldn't help the poor boy—right now only a toddler—but her paws were tied. The Kazekage was still hopeful that his seal was sufficient, that Gaara would be a perfect and functional weapon, but it was too early and Gaara too young to tell. So Gaara was still a state secret in Suna, and any inquires on Sakura's part about the boy would probably be treated with intense suspicion, at best. Any attempt to see him would be answered with a quite disappearance in the middle of the night, too. There was no way Sakura could do anything for or about Gaara right now, not without getting herself killed and/or causing a war with Suna.

It rankled, but she could do nothing.

"This is my Teammate, Sakura," Kakashi was introducing her now. "She was a wanderer before she joined Konoha, but she is making a name for herself in our medical division as _Konoha no Hanagitsune_."

Sakura wanted to roll her eyes at the nickname—a group of her ninja patients had made dubious use of their convalescent time to dream it up for her—but let it pass. She stepped forward and dipped her head. "Greetings, Kazekage-sama."

"Her abilities must be great indeed, if a summons has been able to win fame in your Village," the Kazekage said to Kakashi, his sharp eyes on her.

"I beg you pardon, Kazekage-sama," Sakura said politely. "But I was not always a fox. I am a kunoichi who, by bad luck and through an incident with natural chakra, was given the form of a fox."

That Sakura had played a role in defeating the Kyuubi, and the fact that she had once been human, was no longer classified—though _exactly_ what had happened to the Demon Fox was still under the highest seals—but the information was being disseminated very slowly and carefully. In the interest of full-disclosure (and because Sakura was tired of being treated as an animal, albeit an intelligent one), she and Minato had come to an agreement about telling the Kazekage of her status during this mission. They didn't want him to find out from some other source, and accuse Konoha of sending her in as something of a spy.

She could tell the Kazekage had read between the lines of her explanation and knew her situation had something to do with the Kyuubi; it was evident in his coldly calculating eyes.

"I see," he said at length. "It is fortunate that you have apparently overcome the limitations of such a drastic and unexpected change and have made a name for yourself."

"Quite fortunate, Kazekage-sama," Sakura agreed. "The Hokage has sent me along with the offer to teach a select group of your best medic-ninja a new procedure for decreasing the infection risk for injured ninja requiring surgery who also suffer suppressed immune systems caused by poisoning."

"The Hokage is very generous," he said again. Kakashi and Sakura bowed to him. He continued: "The journey to Suna is long, and the desert can be unforgiving to those unused to its harshness. We will allow you to relax before we begin the work you have been sent here for. An aide will show you to the guest quarters that have been prepared for you. We will hold our first meeting tomorrow in the morning."

"Thank you, Kazekage-sama."


	44. Dance

_TH: I think my one regret from my Japan trip (was it already four years ago?!) was that I didn't buy any omamori from any of the shrines we visited. At the time I felt a little awkward, since it wasn't something I believed in, and I sort of felt that I would be cheapening the whole concept of what they are by buying one just for my own little tourist gimmick. But I wonder if the sheer fact that I was concerned about that would have been proof that I wouldn't be acting disrespectfully. Well, if I ever get rich and go back there..._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Forty-four**

**Theme:: Dance**

* * *

Sakura wandered the streets of dusk Suna, looking around her with interest. Itachi's birthday was coming up, and she wanted to get him something special as a gift. A token from a foreign Village would be nice. But what? Suna had a few specialities, like various items (both practical and ornamental) made of sandstone, their finely made fans (for combat, decoration, or traditional fan dances), and a peculiar candy made of dried insects. She didn't think Itachi would appreciate the last…

She trotted from store to store, stopping at stalls and street vendors on occasion. Because it got so hot during the day under the burning sun, most of the people in Suna ran their errands late in the day, as the sun set and the temperature dropped to a more acceptable level. The streets were pretty busy, and the unusual sight of a fox trotting around their Village made many Suna inhabitants double-take. When they noticed her _hitai-ate_, they tried to be subtle about the curious glances they sent her way, but she could still catch them looking. Sakura did her best to ignore the prickling feeling of many eyes flicking toward her. The presence of her Suna escort, unobtrusively following a half street behind her, did nothing to detract from the stares. In fact, he seemed to invite more, as his presence implied that not only was she a fox and of Konoha allegiance, but she was also a diplomat of some sort. However, nobody approached her or said anything to her. Once Sakura realized that, it was a simple enough matter to ignore the stares and continue on her way.

She saw a few interesting things as she walked, but nothing that she thought Itachi would really appreciate. He hated the gifts of weapons he received only too often from his family, so she didn't want to get him any of the combat fans one store boasted (the decorative ones were out, as well… she was not certain she had Itachi's aesthetic preferences pinned down). For the same reason, the sandstone grindstones were out of the running. And she wasn't sure if he'd appreciate the little toys, either. He might be a child but his intellect was a little too advanced for him to be amused by a spinning top.

When she finally found the perfect gift, she was nearly struck dumb by _how_ perfect it was. Suna, like every other Hidden Village, had a prominent Inari shrine. The shrine had a little booth by the entrance, where they were selling prayer tokens, paper fortunes, and _omamori_. The talismans were obviously handcrafted with exacting care, the cloth covering was hand-stitched, with a single or a few characters stitched in soft thread on the front to give the general idea of what sort of protection they offered. Sakura was willing to bet the prayers inside were hand lettered on heavy paper or slender bits of wood. The tops were tied off with a tasseled loop, and for this particular shrine, a tiny inari statue carved of sandstone.

She looked over the blessings offered—for marriage, for travel, for childbirth, for a business or farm… And then, probably the greatest seller in a Hidden Village, an _omamori_ praying for Inari to protect the warrior who carried it.

The young _miko _running the booth did a double-take like everyone else when Sakura jumped lightly up to the small portion of the counter not covered with the booth's wares. The girl's eyes widened; not that Sakura could blame her. Inari was the _kami _whose chosen messengers were foxes; even though those foxes were generally white-furred and Sakura was clearly not, coming face-to-face with a fox would probably startle anyone in the _miko_'s position.

Sakura tilted her head so that the girl got a clear look at her _hitai-ate_, and smiled foxily. "Hi. I'm an ambassador from Konoha. I was just admiring the _omamori_."

The girl collected herself enough to nod, bowing quickly. "Yes! W-welcome."

"I think I would like to buy one of the warrior's protection _omamori_. I'm sorry to ask, but I don't want to damage it with my teeth or claws; could you pick one for me? I have money in the pouch on my back."

"Of course!" the girl said, still flustered. She shuffled through the small stack of the warrior's _omamori_, before selecting one made with a silvery cloth embroidered with red, gold, and black maple leaves. She offered it shyly. "Is this one alright?"

"It's lovely," Sakura assured. "Perfect."

She held still as the _miko _opened the pouch that was attached to the fine leather harness she wore whenever she was on-mission. "Could you tuck the _omamori _in there once you've gotten the money?"

"Yes," the _miko _said. There was a moment, and a couple tugs on the harness, and then: "There you go."

"Thank you very much!" Sakura said cheerfully. The _miko _flushed, bowed, and said her own thanks. She couldn't have been older than fourteen, and a civilian to boot. It was kind of adorable how flustered she was. Sakura gave her one last fox grin, and leapt lightly back down to the ground.

Pleased with her purchase, Sakura trotted off with a jaunty wave to her tail.


	45. Empty

_TH: I don't have much to say. So... uh. Enjoy?_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Forty-five**

**Theme:: Empty**

* * *

Konoha already had a peace treaty with Suna, which made negotiating a new one an exercise in patience and political quick-stepping. Suna already had the assurance that Konoha wasn't going to attack them, so they didn't have much impetus to make another deal. Konoha would have to offer something truly tempting to get Suna to promise to support them, if Kiri were to attack. Really, the one thing Konoha had that Suna wanted was self-sufficiency. Suna was a village situated in the middle of a desert. While they had a large, deep reservoir far beneath the Village to supply themselves with as much water as they'd ever need, they did not have the extensive, fertile cropland that Konoha did. They were able to grow approximately sixty-percent of their own food in greenhouses in the Village or on Suna-ministered lands in the greener corners of Wind Country; the rest came from international trade. They were dependent on trade with foreign lands. In addition, after the Third Shinobi War, their Daimyo had started to offer more jobs to Konoha than to his own country's Hidden Village. Even though Minato quietly and politely turned down most of the missions, it seemed like the Daimyo wasn't returning to Suna with the offers; the Hidden Village was in an economic depression.

…How fortunate for them that Konoha was willing to cut them a deal for priority, discounted trading.

It took long weeks, but Sakura and Kakashi slowly hammered out the details with the Kazekage and his advisors until there was a final draft of a new formal agreement between Konoha and Suna. In some respects, it surprised Sakura. For one, because the Suna of her timeline was bitter and begrudged Konoha (they weren't so stupid as to not know to where their jobs were being outsourced). For another, because she had seen the Kazekage and witnessed his harshness. It was always said that living in the unforgiving desert made for unforgiving ninja, and the man was definitely proof of concept. He was a man that Sakura had absolutely no trouble picturing ordering the assassination of his toddler son.

_Somehow,_ she was going to try to save Gaara from his horrible empty life of hate and loneliness. Maybe if she dropped hints to Minato… Or if she tried to request future missions to Suna, and try to insinuate herself close enough to Gaara to make some changes to his life, or his seal, if she was daring enough…

Or maybe Gaara would end up perfectly fine in this timeline and she wouldn't have to intervene. She'd noticed that some things she remembered going a certain way did not go that way, and it was more than could be accounted for logically with the changes her presence would have wrought. Some of the things that were different changed before she even arrived in this timeline! For example, her time's Kakashi had told her and Naruto that he and the other ninja of his generation had been closed into the emergency shelters behind the Mountain. But this time's Kakashi had fought; Rin, his old Teammate, had died in the Kyuubi fight. At first, Sakura hadn't made the connection. Her Kakashi had never told her of the circumstances of Rin's death; he'd only spoken of Obito's. So when Sakura had heard _here _that Rin had died trying to save civilians during the Kyuubi attack, she had just accepted that as the cause of her time's Rin's death. But that couldn't have been true—Rin would have been in the emergency shelter with everybody else… Presuming, of course, that her time's Rin had still been alive at that time; she'd died at some point, that much was obvious. So that's one, possibly two, inconsistencies that had their roots _before _Sakura had come to this timeline: The fact that Kakashi and his cohort had not been shut away during the fight with the Kyuubi, and possibly the fact that Rin was still alive to be killed during said fight.

So perhaps Sakura hadn't just time traveled, but also hopped dimensions.

The thought was uncomfortable. It meant that whatever Sakura knew about what was, and what would come, could be wrong in ways she couldn't even guess. It meant that any advice she gave might lead to terrible consequences. She'd accepted the fact that her presence would change things, but she'd thought that those changes would be to a timeline she already knew. If this was an alternate dimension, then she had absolutely no assurances of anything being the same.

The thought was disturbing, but it was one that Sakura had been fighting with for a while. She didn't like thinking about it, but she knew that she should… that she had to, really. The success of her self-assigned mission depended on her ability to make rational, measured decisions. Assumptions and willful ignorance could spell disaster.


	46. Guilty by Association

_TH: Aaaand Kishimoto just nerfed the Uchiha. Say hello to the clan of people who loved too much. Barf. Also. The First Hokage's personality? WTF? And magically, the shikifuujin is so easy to break? I'm getting sick of this. It's like Kishimoto got this far, realized he didn't like the canon he'd established at the start of the manga, and is now changing things willy-nilly, giving some half-baked explanations for the changes, and calling them 'plot twists'. I mean, seriously, what hasn't been ret-conned at this point?_

_Also, sorry about this being late. FF net was being poopy and not allowing it to exist._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Forty-six**

**Theme:: Guilty by Association**

* * *

The secretary at Minato's outer office squawked when Sakura zipped past her. The ANBU guards no doubt saw and acknowledged her as a non-threat, because they didn't intercept as Sakura blew the door open with a quick wind jutsu.

Minato was standing in front of his windows, arms crossed and scowling. When he turned and saw who had barged into his office, his scowl deepened. He said: "I know why you're here, and don't blame me."

Sakura closed the door before she started yelling. "What the _HELL _happened? I go to Suna for a month and I come back to find out that my _pacifist _med-nin apprentice was sent on a C-rank mission on which he MADE HIS FIRST KILL. _Explain _this to me, please, Hokage-sama!"

"I don't like it any more than you do," Minato snapped. "Fugaku argued for the chance for his son to pad his mission experience with a low-risk mission. He somehow got the Council to agree with him, and they very neatly boxed me into a corner!"

"There are so many things wrong with that statement, I don't even know where to start," Sakura said in disgust. "I guess we'll go in order of the words. So. What kind of 'low risk' mission ends with an eight-year-old making a kill?"

"It was supposed to be a simple escort mission, leading a visiting monk back to his temple," Minato said grimly. "Except they ran into some bandits. The most detail I know is that Itachi had to defend the monk with lethal force."

"Alright, and _how _did he get stuck on that mission?" Had she been human, Sakura would have pinched the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger.

"_Tch_," Minato clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Fugaku made some argument that his son has been a Genin for years but still has no real mission experience to his name and that we're wasting resources in not utilizing him for anything but D-ranks. He somehow persuaded the Council to agree with him, too. They overruled my objections."

"_Damn_ them," Sakura growled. "Sometimes I really hate checks and balances."

Minato huffed and sat down. "Is it horrible for me to say 'so do I'?"

They sat in commiserate silence for a moment, then Minato said: "I would have thought you would be with Itachi right now. So why are you here yelling at me?"

"Itachi is in a meeting with his Clan Elders," Sakura said. "Shisui tipped me off as to what had happened, but he had to be at the meeting as well, and couldn't explain everything."

Minato groaned, rubbing his face with a hand. "I don't even know the full story. I haven't been able to find out how Fugaku got Homura, Utatane, and Danzo to support him. But it was sheer bad luck, with the bandits."

_:I'm surprised Fugaku got Danzo on his side. But then, I suppose if Danzo thought he had something to gain…: _Sakura sighed. "Did they try to push for anything else? Or was this a one-time thing?"

"Well, I can tell you that I'll be citing this bandit incident as precedence, and try to limit them to putting Itachi on D-ranks if they try it again," Minato said.

"Good." Sakura glanced around, and realized that Naruto, and all of his toys and pillows and everything, were gone. She blinked when she realized what that meant. "Oh. Er… sorry, were you waiting for a meeting with someone?"

Minato sent Naruto away with a caretaker whenever he had foreign visitors in his office, so that the guest never saw hide nor hair of the toddler. That he was gone right now meant that Minato was waiting for one such visitor, or had just gotten out of a meeting with one.

"I have a meeting with the Daimyo's minister at two," Minato said, glancing at the clock. Sakura looked too, and grimaced when she saw it was five-to-two.

"Sorry, I'll go," Sakura said. "And, um… sorry for yelling at you, Hokage-sama. I was upset."

"With right," he said. "Don't apologize for looking out for your apprentice."

"I still should have had more faith in you," Sakura shook her head. "Anyway, if the Uchiha have let Itachi out of their meeting, I'd better find him and run some damage control."

"Good luck," Minato said quietly as Sakura left.

When she stopped by the Uchiha Compound, Shisui was waiting for her at the entrance.

"He won't talk to me," he said, worriedly. Sakura grimaced. She and Shisui were about the only people Itachi would open up to, and if he wasn't talking to Shisui…

"Where is he?" she asked. Shisui pointed.

Sakura found Itachi sitting on a rock next to the Naka River, his knees drawn up to his chin and his arms wrapped around himself as if they were the only thing keeping him together. She picked her way carefully over to him, and said: "Itachi-kun?"

He didn't answer, and she didn't even see his blankly staring eyes flicker at the sound of her voice. "Itachi-kun, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

At this, he turned his head creakily toward her, peeling his eyes away from the rushing water that flowed only a few inches from his toes. He met her green gaze with a look so weary, it made Sakura ache down to her bones.

"I asked Hokage-sama what happened; he told me ask much as he could," she said, eyes flicking over his frozen face. Slowly, he turned his dead stare back to the river. "Itachi-kun, please. Let me help."

"Help?" he rasped. "No… There is no help."

He turned to look at her again, and she had to force herself not to jerk away. Itachi's Sharingan was fully formed, three black tomoe spinning slowly around his contracted pupil. "You mastered it…"

Itachi's eyes closed. There was a moment of silence, then he said, his voice still a ruined, rasping thing: "When an Uchiha masters the Sharingan, he becomes an adult in the eyes of the clan. And that means he is prepared to hold the clan secrets."

Sakura inhaled sharply. "The Mangekyo…"

Itachi pinned her with a stare. "How do you know—? Ah. Madara."

"Yes…" Sakura said. She hesitated. "They told you about… about how to get it?"

Itachi was silent a while, watching the river flow past his rock. "The Uchiha truly are cursed…"

Sakura took that as a 'yes'. She mentally snarled every expletive she knew at Fugaku and the other Uchiha Clan Elders; what a good idea it was, to tell an eight-year-old how he could get more powerful if he started killing his friends and family. Even if Itachi wasn't likely to do it this time around, he was the sort of person who will feel guilty merely from his association with the Clan.

"Do you know how many Uchiha gained the Mangekyo, since the clan started keeping records during the time of the Clan Wars?" Itachi asked suddenly. "Sixty-three. Fourteen of those were since the formation of Konoha. But they were kept secret by the clan, not even the Hokage was told."

"S-so many," Sakura said, surprised. "I'd only heard of Madara and Izuna…"

"They were undoubtedly the most famous," Itachi said. "But they were the clan's war heroes, and their leaders."

He paused, then said, bluntly: "That so many of my clan were willing to kill their most valued friend makes me sick. And the thought of what is required to gain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan…"

"But your clan is not you," Sakura said. "And the Mangekyo is a choice… One you don't have to make. Itachi, the actions of others do _not_ condemn you along with them!"

"I didn't choose to possess the Sharingan, and yet I am a prodigy with it!" Itachi said, showing emotion for the first time. He scrambled to his feet and stood stiffly, hands fisted at his sides. "Do you know how the Sharingan works? Do you know what it means that we can copy techniques with a glance? When our Sharingan is active, it gives us perfect recall. I can remember _every detail I see _when I watch the world through these damned eyes. Now ask me what happens _when I KILL WITH MY SHARINGAN_."

Realization was instantaneous. Sakura sucked in a breath, her heart breaking for him. "Oh, Itachi."

"I remember the look on his face when my kunai pierced his chest. I can remember the twist of pain in his expression when his ribs shattered under the blow. And I can remember the sudden dead blankness in his eyes when the kunai reached his heart. I can remember _everything, _and I always will. And every kill I make from now on when my Sharingan is active will be burned into my mind!" he blazed. There was something broken in his gaze, though he wasn't crying.

Overwhelmed with the desire to hold him, to shield him from the world with her arms, Sakura forced herself into her human _henge. _Her long coat fluttered around them as she wrapped her arms around Itachi.

"Itachi," she said, stroking her fingers through his hair. "Oh, Itachi."

She didn't know what to say. She couldn't bring herself to say that everything would be alright, because no matter what she did, he'd still carry that memory with him. No matter what she did, Itachi would still witness death many more times. She couldn't promise him peace, not when she knew what dangers lurked in the possible future. There was nothing she could say, except: "I'm here. I'm here."

She cradled the boy to her, gently rocking in place. Itachi didn't cry, but she felt his fingers twist in the folds of her coat, holding on as tight as he could, as he buried his face in her shoulder.


	47. Rebirth

_TH: So... I'm thinking that there will be a time-skip after chapter 50. And I'm also thinking that this semester is making a very comprehensive and well-thought-out attempt on my life, so I'd like a little while to gather my thoughts after chapter 50. So, after 50, _Going Sideways _is going to take a a couple weeks' break. I apologize for the disappointment, but I need a bit of time to bully through the gauntlet of presentation, exams, and such. I'll give a more definitive timeline when I get to chapter 50, so you all know what to expect (and lambast me for, I guess). For now, please read and review!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Forty-seven**

**Theme:: Rebirth**

* * *

There was a subtle change in Itachi after his meeting with the Uchiha Elders, after his first kill. It wasn't something that most people would notice, but Sakura noticed, and Shisui, and—as it turned out—his mother.

Mikoto had started to watch her firstborn son more closely ever since her first talk with Sakura, and so she noticed when Itachi became ever so slightly quieter, more withdrawn. She also noticed the shift that occurred in his training—where, before, Itachi would mention the practice he got in healing minor wounds in the ninja emergency ward, he now talked about the more mundane injuries he was healing at a civilian clinic. The abrupt shift from healing kunai stab wounds and third-degree _Katon_ burns, to healing stress fractures and minor infections, on the heels of Itachi's first out-of-Village mission, told Mikoto a story.

It was one she didn't like much. She'd known Fugaku wanted Itachi to get more mission experience, and not the 'fetch and carry' missions he complained Sakura and the Hokage were wasting Itachi's time with. She knew this was partially his fault, and if she found out that Itachi had been irrevocably damaged in any way due to his meddling…

Mikoto had been an active duty ninja; it was a fact that many people forgot. It was a fact that she herself forgot, sometimes. When she'd married, she'd banked that fire inside her so that it was nothing more than a warm hearth. After Sakura had pointed out Itachi's slow spiritual death at the hands of the Clan, that fire had roared back to life, a kunoichi's _Katon _once more.

The Uchiha were very strongly patriarchal. It was a leftover from the time when the Sharingan occurred more often in males than females, and when war had made strength the paramount virtue for a leader. Mikoto didn't have a lot of clout in the Clan's affairs; her position as the Uchiha 'matriarch' was more for social status rather than political power. Whatever say she had in raising her sons was derived from whatever she could convince her husband, and that was no easy thing. Fugaku had a very strong personality, and she had been conditioned since birth to obey the men of her Clan. The number of times she'd tried to insist on something in her children's lives could be counted on one hand. Training as a kunoichi had hardened her against enemies, but her family? No. She was still weak against them. And, while she loved her first-born son dearly, she did not understand him. That also made it hard. He would not talk about the things that disturbed him—she'd occasionally considered the fact that he'd seemed too gentle for the assassination career Fugaku wanted for him, but since Itachi never spoke out against it, she had let things lie.

It shamed her, a little, that she so thoroughly lacked that 'mother's intuition' some of the other parents talked about. As it shamed her that Itachi still did not confide in her, even though she had drawn him aside one day after her talk with his sensei to tell him _her _feelings, how she was proud of his choice, how she was proud of him and loved him, no matter what.

Perhaps it was too little, too late. Perhaps the years of watching his mother sit passively by as the Clan slowly pressed him into 'his place' had broken whatever trust he'd had that she truly cared for him. Whatever the cause, he did not trust her, did not confide in her, did not expect her to support or protect him.

But there was someone he did trust. And Mikoto could go to her as an intermediary. Through her, Mikoto could ensure that her son was alright. Even if Itachi never trusted Mikoto again, she could at least atone for some of her gross neglect in this way.

Her children were in bed, and her husband ensconced in his study—nobody would be looking for her for a while. Freed for the moment from her duties as mother and wife, Mikoto seized the opportunity. It took her a few short minutes to walk to the apartment where she knew they lived.

"Hatake-san," Mikoto said politely when the young shinobi answered her knocking. "Good evening. Is Sakura-san in?"


	48. Daily

_TH: Don't have much to say..._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Forty-eight**

**Theme:: Daily**

* * *

Itachi met Sakura for their daily practice with a small crease between his brows and the _omamori _cradled in his hands. When he stopped in front of her, he hesitated as if unsure what to say. Sakura waited.

"…My mother gave me this," he said finally. When Sakura didn't immediately reply, his expression became even more puzzled. He opened his mouth, hesitated, and closed it.

"Did you thank her?" Sakura asked, when it became obvious he was at a loss. Itachi blinked at her slowly.

"Yes…" he said. "But… it's from _you_."

Sakura tilted her head. "Did she tell you that?"

"No," Itachi said, frowning. He held it up. "But it's clearly from Suna. Even if I ignored the fact that the crest embroidered on it is for the Suna sect of Inari shrines, the sandstone used for the carving would give it away. And you were recently in Suna. My mother was not."

"Yes," Sakura said simply. Itachi brought the _omamori _back to cradle it to his chest once more.

"Why?" he asked, confusion clear in his tone. Sakura tilted her head.

"What do you think?" she asked gently.

"Well," Itachi started, staring at the _omamori _intently, "that you bought it, but my mother gave it to me implies that you gave it to her for me. Which implies that you talk with each other, presumably about me. But it is clearly a Suna item, and you are intelligent enough to know I would realize who the true giver was. And my mother must have known as well. Which would mean that you both intended for me to realize. You wanted me to know you have been talking."

He looked at her, and Sakura could see his thoughts zipping from implication to connection to theory. She said, meaningfully: "You mother cares about you, Itachi."

Itachi's mouth tightened into a thin line, and he looked away. He didn't believe her, not entirely. Sakura said: "When you first became my apprentice, I went to talk to her. Your father had made clear what he thought about the situation, but I wanted to know what your mother thought. She's proud of you, and loves you. Surely you've noticed."

"She told me as much, and she asks about my training with you and I answer. But…" Itachi's voice was soft and trailed off, uncertain.

"But you aren't sure if she means those things or if she is just going through the motions expected of a mother?" Sakura asked. "No. She means them. I understand that it may be hard to believe, because of how submissive and uninvolved she was for most of your life, but she is trying."

"She'll never stand up to my father," Itachi said.

"No," Sakura agreed. "She was raised to be too subservient to the men of her clan to do something like that. Hers is a background role. You know that the Hokage and I give your father reports? Well, I give your mother reports, too."

"I don't…" Itachi started.

"She knows she'd never get the information from your father; it isn't her place to need to know those things. But she knew after I visited her that I was dedicated to being your sensei, to training you and keeping you safe and making sure you're alright mentally and physically and emotionally… so she started asking me how you were doing. Because she didn't ask your father, and when she asked you she only got a pre-packaged, sterile answer," Sakura said. Itachi blinked.

"And she could never tell when I was lying or hiding what I really felt because the first thing the clan taught me was how to control my emotions, how to put on the mask," he said, thoughtfully.

"Your mother wants the best for you, but she never knew what that was until you went against your father and asked to apprentice under me." Sakura watched him try to absorb and assimilate all of this, his eyes half-closed, flicking back and forth under his long lashes. It wasn't something he'd be able to come to grips with in such a short time; likely it would take him at least a day.

"Just think about it," Sakura said. "For now, we're going to practice reconnecting torn tendons and ligaments. Listen up, because this is a delicate process, and doing it incorrectly could cripple someone."

Itachi was dutifully attentive during the lesson and training, and when he came back the next day, his step was just a little lighter, and his hair was pulled up into a high tail rather than the usual low gathering at the nape of his neck. The _omamori _was wrapped around the tie, a bright spot against his dark hair that gently bumped against his head with every movement.

Sakura felt the warmth of success in her heart, and quietly began her next lesson.


	49. Infiltrate

_TH: I really do think Minato would be a fantastic orator._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Forty-nine**

**Theme:: Infiltrate**

* * *

It was Naruto's third birthday, and the first time that Sakura would be in the Village for the occasion. The last two years, Minato had sent her out on a mission as a safety precaution. It was impossible to forget that Naruto shared his birthday with the Kyuubi Attack; Konoha had established a matsuri on the day, to celebrate the fact that they _hadn't _been squashed flat, set on fire, or eaten. And seeing as Sakura was a fox… it seemed diplomatic to simply send her out of the way, so that sensibilities weren't offended and so nobody ended up injured, be they Sakura or potential harassers.

This year, Minato had deemed it safe enough; _Konoha no_ _Hanagitsune _was well enough known within the Village that it was unlikely anyone would try to hurt her for the sin of being fox shaped. Sakura was excited to share Naruto's birthday with him. Finally.

Because Sakura didn't have Kakashi or Itachi (the former being on a mission, and the latter obligated to attend the matsuri with his family), she was hanging around with Minato, who wanted her to be at the matsuri with someone, even though he was mostly certain nobody would try to hurt her. Sakura didn't complain, because this meant she was close to Naruto the whole night. The birthday boy was holding the miniature drum she'd given him, having refused to put it down since he'd unwrapped it. Every once in a while, he'd beat on it with his little hands, punctuating the matsuri music with a staccato _tocktocktocktock_. Pretty much everyone who looked at him smiled.

The Uchiha Head family came to give their regards to the Hokage and his son. Itachi had Sasuke piggy-backed on him. The younger Uchiha's little chin was hooked over Itachi's shoulder and he was chattering excitedly to Itachi. Sakura's apprentice looked as happy as he ever did, and even gave Sakura a small but genuine smile. Sakura grinned back, and then watched avidly as, first Sasuke, then Naruto noticed the other child. While the adults made their polite small-talk, Itachi let Sasuke slide down to the ground. The younger Uchiha grabbed a handful of his brother's pants and watched Naruto warily. Naruto, on the other hand, stared at Sasuke with open, curious, bright blue eyes.

"Sasuke, this is the Hokage's son, Namikaze Naruto," Itachi leaned down to murmur to his brother. Sakura, sitting beside Naruto, turned to the blond boy.

"Naruto, this is Uchiha Sasuke and his big brother Itachi."

The two boys stared at each other, then Naruto solemnly held out his present in offering. "Wanna drum?"

Sasuke hesitated, then edged forward. As the two boys bonded over hitting things and making noise, Sakura made a soft _churr-_ing sound of happiness. Itachi watched his brother and Naruto with a slight smile hovering around the edges of his expression. All too soon, they heard Fugaku's voice raise slightly.

"Itachi, Sasuke, let us go. The Hokage is needed for the ceremony."

Itachi's back unconsciously straightened, and Sasuke reluctantly waved goodbye to his new friend, grabbed Itachi's hand, and they departed after their parents. With a soft rustling of his coat, Minato bent to pick up his son. Naruto squealed in pure joy as Minato lifted him high before settling him in his arms.

"How's my boy?" he asked fondly, as Naruto beamed a thousand-watt smile at him. "Ready to go to Owl-san?"

Minato had asked Sakura if she wanted to watch over Naruto, as he did his Hokage duty in leading the memorial ceremony. She'd declined with some regret, but Minato was a fantastic speech-giver, and she knew she'd be distracted as long as he was talking. Let ANBU baby-sit for a few minutes. It wouldn't kill them.

It wasn't until later that Sakura recalled that stray thought and realized the sick irony of the statement.

Minato was on the platform that had been set up in the middle of Konoha's largest market, his coat looking almost orange in the light of the hundreds of paper lanterns that had been strung across the area high above their heads. He was speaking about the bravery of the Leaf-ninja who had gone to face the Kyuubi knowing that they would die, but also knowing that they were the only defense the Village had against the Demon Fox.

Sakura was perched on a nearby rooftop, so she could see over the heads of the sea of humans that had packed the square. From there, she could easily see Minato and hear him.

Incidentally, she could also see when an explosion off to the side of the stage lifted a cloud of stone-dust and blasted several people off their feet. There was a tiny fraction of a second in which everything seemed to hush and slow, and then chaos broke loose.

Civilians started screaming, ninja started pulling weapons and shouting and running… Sakura caught flashes of grey-clad bodies among the milling masses, and felt her back prickle with a Very Bad Feeling. She looked toward Minato, but he wasn't on the stage anymore, and there was dust in the air and half of the lanterns had been torn down and extinguished by the explosion…

_:Naruto!: _Sakura's head whipped around toward where Owl-san had been standing with him. Owl was there, on the ground in the sort of careless sprawl of the clearly dead. Sakura couldn't see where Naruto was. _:No!:_

Sakura was down there standing next to Owl before she'd blinked twice, frantically looking for some clue of Naruto's whereabouts. She sniffed the area, drawing the air in deeply. It might have taken a long time to get used to, but she was familiar with—and practiced in—using her nose to track. She caught Naruto's scent and followed it hurriedly.

Scrambling through the crowd of panicked civilians and aggravated ninja, she rushed as fast as she could along the trail. It was leading her toward the nearest outer wall; they were trying to take Naruto out of the Village.

_:Hell no!: _Sakura started moving a little faster. She thought she could hear them ahead of her…

She jumped up onto the nearest roof, and ran as fast as she could, hoping to overtake them. She caught up in two blocks, and hurtled down into the middle of their three-man group with a snarl and a jutsu that wreathed her in flames. The ground cracked upon her landing, but didn't shake or heave—she didn't want to hurt Naruto by accident.

The enemy ninja leapt backwards away from her, and reacted with a barrage of various jutsu. The genjutsu she shook off like water, the _Doton _she dodged. When they tried to dash around her while she was occupied, she growled and sent a giant fireball to singe their noses. They skipped back from their intended escape route, and Sakura could tell they were on the verge of simply taking off in another direction. She'd have to make them want to stay… but how?

"_Suiton: Suidan no jutsu!_" pronounced a new voice. Sakura jerked.

"Itachi!" she exclaimed. Her apprentice slid into place on the opposite side of the three enemies, who'd been corralled by Itachi's jutsu into a tighter formation. Itachi's eyes gleamed red.

The shinobi who was holding Naruto (slung under his arm with a hand clapped firmly over the boy's face, Sakura noticed darkly) cursed. And then he _dropped _Naruto in favor of grabbing a kunai from his leg pouch. Sakura growled at the careless treatment. Naruto nearly landed on his feet, but stumbled and fell on his rear. His face was a mask of shock, which quickly twisted into fear and confusion. He opened his mouth and started crying noisily.

"Shut _up_!" snapped the shinobi, and aimed a kick at the boy.

Sakura saw red, and a truly bestial snarl tore its way out of her mouth. How _dare_ this scrap of misbegotten human hurt her kit! Without even stopping to think it through, she hurled herself at the shinobi, claws and teeth ready.

He was fast enough to get an arm between her and his throat, which probably saved his life. Sakura's jaws closed on his cloth-swathed arm, and she curled her body so that she could kick at it with her rear paws, claws extended, as well. She felt her eyeteeth snag, then rip through something. Growling, she bit harder, and the man cursed again. Blood flooded her mouth, and then something hit her hard, in the side, on the back, glancing off her head. He was beating on her with his fist, trying to get her off.

She kicked twice more then leapt away. Blood dripped from her muzzle as she slunk back, growling. The three enemy ninja simultaneously relaxed, then stiffened, and in a ragged chorus: "_Kai_!"

Itachi must have been using genjutsu. Sakura ran toward Naruto, still crying on the ground, but a booted foot arced toward her and she was forced to swerve away. One of the enemy ninja stepped between her and Naruto, flipping a long-handled kunai in his hand. "You wanna save the brat, you gotta get through me, bitch."

Sakura bared her bloodstained teeth at him. "It's vixen, actually, and you're going to regret putting yourself between me and the boy. _Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu_!"

Even as her fireball whooshed through the air, she sprinted toward him in its wake. If she stayed behind it, she would be obscured from his sight until he dodged or the flames dissipated. She heard him shout, over the roar of the fire: "_Suiton: Shiroi no Tsunami_!"

The water release would likely break her fire; it sounded like a higher level technique. She would have to take advantage of the brief time she was still invisible to him.

Molding her chakra, she murmured lowly: "_Henge_."

He did not expect to face a human when the steam and smoke of their clashing jutsu had cleared. He lost his life to that failure. Sakura whirled, but found the other two enemies incapacitated. Three ANBU were scattered around the little area, two standing guard over the shinobi Skaura'd marked with her teeth. The other one brushed past Sakura to check the enemy she'd just killed.

Sakura's eyes widened when she saw Fugaku of all people, standing stern watch over the other incapacitated enemy. Itachi stood a little behind him, with a sniffling Naruto propped on his hip. Thoughts waylaid, Sakura stalked over to her apprentice. Dropping her hands on his shoulders (carefully avoiding Naruto), she demanded: "What did you think you were doing?!"

"I saw you leave, saw Owl-san dead, and guessed what had happened. I wasn't going to let you go without backup. I told my father what had happened, and he gathered a ANBU squad before following the both of us," Itachi said calmly.

Sakura paused. "Where's Sasuke?"

"With my mother." Itachi blinked placidly at her. Sakura blew air out her nose, and turned back into a fox.

"As much as I appreciate the thought, I don't want you putting yourself in harms way like that," she said. "Understand?"

"I understand," Itachi said in a bland tone of voice that told Sakura that understanding wasn't the same as obeying, and Itachi wouldn't hesitate to do the same thing again. She huffed.

Minato chose that moment to arrive on the scene. There was ash and blood on his clothes—he must have been engaged by another group of enemies. His step was firm and purposeful, and his eyes crackling with their intensity. And yet, under all that stern 'I am a shinobi and the Hokage', his face was pale. A little of the color returned when he saw Naruto in Itachi's arms.

However, the Hokage only allowed himself a brief once-over to assure him that his son was alright, before that sharp blue gaze flicked around the area.

"Take the enemy to T&I," he commanded the ANBU, "both the living and the dead."

As they obeyed soundlessly, he turned to the Uchiha Clan Head. "Fugaku—" The use of the Uchiha's first name, without honorific, and spoken with a sincerity that was visible in Minato's bearing and expression, indicated just how much he meant his words. "—Thank you for your part in stopping the invaders and retrieving my son."

Fugaku inclined his head. Sakura stepped forward.

"Hokage-sama, is there any indication who they are and why they infiltrated the Village to kidnap Naruto?"

"I can only guess why they wanted Naruto," Minato said grimly. "I suspect we'll now more about that when T&I get through with the survivors. As to who they are… I found one of these on every one I killed. Hidden from immediate sight, of course."

He held out a _hitai-ate_. On it was engraved a single music note.


	50. Finite

_TH: I may be taking liberties with the nature of summons, but I don't remember any summons performing a jutsu without the collaboration of their summoner. So. Yeah._

_Anyway, to reiterate, I'm taking a break for a couple weeks now, so no updates. Thank you all for being understanding about that. Catch you all later._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty**

**Theme:: Finite**

* * *

Konoha had a policy that even Teams without medic-ninja had to take rudimentary first aid packets with them when they were fielded—bandages, blood-replenishing pills, soldier pills, morphine syrettes, tourniquet, and sulfa powder were all standard issue and simple to use. True medics were given a full kit, with specialized items that required more knowledge and skill to use, like antidote kits or field surgery kits. And each medic's pouch was tailored to them, designed and stocked by them, since lives rode on the necessity of a medic to know his or her equipment inside and out, and to be able to find this item or that immediately when it was needed, even if they were blind or bleeding or poisoned or concussed.

Most of Sakura's healing came from chakra these days, but there were times when she needed a bit of chemical help, or when all the energy she had was to stitch up a wound until her chakra levels were replenished. She carried a kit just like every other field medic, and stocked it herself like every other field medic. For this mission, she had gotten special permission to take as much as she thought was prudent, and had even demanded Jiraiya turn over his rudimentary kit for her to stock as well. She had a feeling she'd want more than just 'the usual' equipment for this, and was determined to make sure they were both stocked for anything that might come their way.

It was an added bonus that she knew Itachi had booked this day to replenish his apprentice's kit as well. Only two schedule slots were open for each time block, so Sakura and Itachi would be the only ones in the supply room, giving her privacy to tell him of her upcoming mission and what it meant for him and his apprenticeship. She wasn't sure she'd have the time otherwise; Jiraiya wanted to leave right away.

Itachi was grinding something with a mortar and pestle, his back to the supply room door, when Sakura entered. She _henge_'d into human form, feeling that this conversation would be better served by it.

"Itachi," she said. He turned, saw that she was human, and she could practically see the gear turning behind his eyes. His face became carefully blank.

"You're leaving," he said. It wasn't a question.

"A mission with Jiraiya-sama," she confirmed. "No finite timeframe."

Itachi's thoughtful eyes narrowed slightly before opening again. "An espionage mission. You're looking into the music-note ninja."

Sakura couldn't confirm or deny it; her mission was technically classified so she couldn't talk about its particulars. That didn't mean Itachi wasn't right. The Hokage and Jiraiya had determined that she would be a good choice for this mission because of the advantages to reconnaissance and espionage her altered form gave her. She wasn't a kunoichi trying to use a jutsu to look like a fox, she _was_ a fox. They also thought that the fact that she could use jutsu on her own to be an advantage—summons, which could pose as normal animals as easily as she could, could not perform jutsu on their own. They worked with their human summoner to do so.

"Obviously while I'm gone I can't teach you," she said. "So during that time, you should go on a shadowing rotation in the hospital. Pick members of the staff to shadow for a period of time, and pick even non-ninja medics. They may not be able to teach you anything about chakra healing, but because they can't use it, they've mastered some other technique to make up for it."

She took a breath. Itachi stayed silent. "And Hokage-sama has promised to take you under his wing and start teaching you _fuiinjutsu_. I've been considering doing so for a while, and now that you won't be having as intensive medic-jutsu training, you'll have time to commit to it. And Hokage-sama is a master, and a very good teacher, so I know you'll be in good hands."

She swallowed, and said a little hoarsely: "And… he's promised me that there will not be a repeat of what happened while I was in Suna."

Itachi's fingers tightened on the leaf of aloe vera in his hands.

"And I want to make sure you know that you can go to him when you need help. That C-rank was horrible, but it set a precedent that'll make it easier for Minato-sama to stop your father and the Council if they try something similar again. That's little consolation to you now, but…" she trailed off, feeling a little desperate. All of the work she'd done to try to save Itachi could all be undone. But this mission was important, and she knew that she could make it successful. She couldn't refuse it. She couldn't bring Itachi with, either, though the thought had occurred to her. It was too dangerous, and would almost certainly require some assassinations. It wasn't a mission she really wanted Itachi on, even if she would have felt better with him where she could keep an eye on him. She would have to depend on Minato, Shisui, and Mikoto to keep Itachi together.

If she weren't so concerned for him, she might have been amused by the juxtaposition of how fragile he seemed now to how cold-and-strong-as-steel he'd seemed in her time. Of course, in her time she'd only ever seen him after he'd already been broken.

"Sakura-sensei," Itachi said presently, "We are ninja of Konohagakure no Sato. You have a mission. I understand."

He paused. "And… I'll be fine."

"I feel like I'm abandoning you," Sakura admitted. He shook his head.

"You'll be back," Itachi said, with a fierce undercurrent to his tone.

"Yes," she agreed. "I don't know when, but I'll definitely come back."

Impulsively, and she grabbed him up in a fierce hug. "Don't you _dare _let them hurt you while I'm gone."

"I will be fine, sensei," he said again, voice muffled by her shoulder. But he hugged back.

* * *

Minato brought Naruto to see them off at the gate. The three-year-old didn't really grasp the gravity of the situation. He didn't have the concepts to understand that Jiraiya and Sakura were going away and nobody knew when they'd be back. He just knew that they were leaving, and so gave them the same goodbyes they'd get at any other time.

Sakura had a lump in her throat the whole time.

When she and Jiraiya finally set out down the road, she couldn't help but look back as Konoha disappeared around the first bend.

_:Goodbye, Minato, Naruto, Itachi…: _she swallowed. _:Providence let me see you all again.:_


	51. Everybody

_TH: And we're back. Thanks everyone for bearing with me and my break. I'm intending to keep the same update schedule as before- twice a week: Saturdays and Tuesdays._

_This chapter is intended to get everyone up to speed on what happened during the timeskip that was concurrent with my break. FYI, Jiraiya is 'Oil Merchant'. Why? Because a codename of Toad Sage or something similar would be too obvious. And his _hitai-ate _has the kanji for oil on it, sooo..._

_Also, some of you may remember my OC Kaname Junmai from my Dream 'Verse stories. He has a slight cameo here. :)_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-one**

**Theme:: Everybody**

* * *

_Konohagakure no Sato_

_ Intelligence Department_

_ Agent: Codename Oil Merchant_

_ Decrypter signature and ID: Kaname Junmai 003803_

* * *

**CLASSIFIED ABOVE S-RANK SEALED DOCUMENT**

* * *

_X month, Y day, Year 67 After Founding_

_ Rumors of ninja with music notes on their _hitai-ate _tracked down to an origin in the north of Fire Country, formerly known as the Land of Rice Fields. Border on their side patrolled extensively. Advise send reinforcing patrols to our own._

* * *

_X month, Y day, 68 AF_

_ Followed a squad of music-note ninja into Yugakure. Intercepted them and attempted interrogation. They used suicide jutsu before any successful attempt was made._

* * *

_X month, Y day, 68 AF_

_ Otogakure. Music note _hitai-ate_, Otokage is Orochimaru. Experiments on Oto-ninja, twisting their bodies and abilities. Suspect outside funding helps support fledgling Village._

* * *

_X month, Y day, 68 AF_

_ Skirmished Oto-ninja with cursed seals; self and companion wounded. Opponents eliminated. Dropping out of contact to lay low until convalesced._

* * *

_X month, Y day, 69 AF_

_ Akatsuki—group of S-class missing ninja. Take miscellaneous missions from non-Village-affiliated clientele. Purpose unknown._

_ Members: Orochimaru (ex-Konoha), Hoshigaki Kisame (ex-Kiri), Kakuzu (ex-Taki), Sasori (ex-Suna), Zetsu (unknown), Tobi (unknown)._

_ Known actions: Funding Otogakure, Orochimaru's Hidden Village, and presumably Orochimaru's experiments. Funding the Byouhan Road bandit group, and the Kizuyango Strait pirates. Orochimaru seems to provide group with expendables from his experiments—cursed seal-bearing hack ninja, and cursed seal-bearing _kekkei genkai _monsters._

* * *

_X month, Y day, 69 AF_

_ They killed them. They killed Nagato, and Yahiko, and Konan, everybody. They killed every single ninja in Ame. It happened TWO YEARS ago. They've kept it quiet all this time. How powerful is Akatsuki?_

* * *

_X month, Y day, 69 AF_

_ Akatsuki may have the Rinnegan. Bodies of Ame ninja either destroyed or taken to Orochimaru's labs. No rumors of Rinnegan's re-emergence, however. Yet._

* * *

_X month, Y day, 70 AF_

_ Leader of Akatsuki rumored to be masked ninja called Tobi, origin unknown._

* * *

_X month, Y day, 70 AF_

_ Suspect Tobi to be Madara. _


	52. Paint

_TH: Not much to say._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-two**

**Theme:: Paint**

* * *

Minato stretched his neck from side to side, and was rewarded with a slight _pop _and a lessening of the tension in his shoulders. Sighing, he dropped the latest report onto the pile in his out-box and shook his hand out. It was beginning to cramp with the copious amount of paperwork he'd done that morning. Naruto had somehow managed to crack his skull yesterday, and Minato had spent the afternoon with him in the hospital, so he had a backlog of work.

…Perhaps it had been a little over-protective of him, considering that Naruto had advanced healing from the Kyuubi, but…

He'd heard people say 'you'll understand when you have your own children' before, but he never understood what that really meant. If any of his Genin from when he was a Jounin instructor had gotten injured, he'd been cool and calm. He'd done what was necessary to treat the wound, and that had been that. Now, though, when it was his only son… his and Kushina's… Even though he _knew _Naruto would heal from the injury within the day, there was a little voice at the back of his head saying _what if, what if, what if_. And he was certain that if he ignored it and something horrible happened, he'd never forgive himself.

He understood now, how someone could raze a country to the ground, and sow the fields with salt. Because if someone threatened his son…

Minato's fingers drummed his desktop, and his eyes went to the drawer of his locked cabinet, where the sensitive documents he received were kept until he sent them to the archives. Somewhere in that drawer was a report from Oil Merchant, implicating Orochimaru as the man behind the kidnapping attempt on Naruto. Minato had already loathed Orochimaru with every fiber of his being because of the despicable things the snake bastard had done that had lead to his becoming a _nukenin_. Now, though, Minato's hatred burned cold and deadly in his heart, and he could tell that if he let it fuel his actions, he would ruin Orochimaru and his so-called Land of Sound with a swift and terrible vengeance. He would paint a landscape of blood and fire and broken earth.

Minato inhaled deeply through his nose, and held the breath, willing the rising tide of fury in his veins to die back.

Orochimaru, Madara, and the rest of Akatsuki would pay for their crimes. But he had to be patient and cautious. All of Konoha depended on him to lead them with care and wisdom, and if he charged into battle with Madara's little club without sufficient information or preparation, he would only get his people killed.

Oil Merchant's latest report had been short and curt, and Minato's instincts were telling him that Oil Merchant was pulling out and returning to Konoha. The spy's mission had been more or less completed, and changing situations called for a change in tactics. They needed to regroup and analyze what they knew. Then they could move against Akatsuki.


	53. Blend

_TH: I'm posting this early because I don't think I'll have the opportunity tomorrow. And early is better than late, right? Hope you enjoy it! -cackle-_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-three**

**Theme:: Blend**

* * *

Sakura could smell Konoha before she could see it. Even after being away for four years, it was immediately recognizable and familiar. The smell of green growing things, food, woodsmoke, and a hundred other scents that all blended together into one smell—'home.' The scent started off very faint, barely discernable amid the smells of the forest, but Sakura knew to look for it, and what to look for. The first whiff made her heart trip into a faster rhythm.

_:Home…: _The word itself was intoxicating. She could hardly wait to see Naruto and Itachi and Minato and Kakashi… Naruto was six, and Itachi was nearly twelve. She wondered how much they'd grown. Naruto must be getting ready to go to the Academy. And how far along his medical jutsu and sealing was Itachi?

Sakura realized she'd started unconsciously walking faster, and drew herself back to walk beside Jiraiya. She glanced up at her companion for the past few years, and felt her good humor sink a little.

The Toad Sage's face was drawn, his lips set in a grim line. He'd taken the discovery of the deaths of Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan hard; they'd been his apprentices and he hadn't even known they were dead until two years after the fact. While Sakura's heart ached for him, a part of her was secretly and guiltily glad. Nagato—Pein—and Konan in her timeline had become embittered toward the world, and had fallen in with Madara. The Uchiha Exile had used them, and used Pein's Rinnegan to wreak havoc on the Fire Country… really, on all the elemental nations. Madara had used Pein as a figurehead for Akatsuki, and the former Ame ninja had gladly killed in the name of Madara's "peaceful world". Sakura was glad that the suffering Pein had caused would not come to pass here. She was glad Nagato died as an idealistic young 'Nagato', and not as a broken 'Pein'. It was better that way.

Although, she was still disturbed that they hadn't been able to confirm that Nagato's Rinnegan had died with him. It was entirely possible that Madara had taken the eyes from Nagato's corpse, but it was also possible that Nagato (or Yahiko or Konan, if he had died before them) had destroyed his eyes to prevent such a thing. Sakura knew the Hyuuga Clan taught every single one of its members what to do if they were taken prisoner… She imagined that Nagato and his companions had similar 'rules.'

Sakura watched the dirt road pass under her paws as she thought. It might be exciting to return home after so long, but she couldn't really think of it as a victorious return. None of the reports they had sent back during their mission had been particularly positive, comprised largely of the news of the fall of countries and of the actions of their enemies. Madara and Orochimaru. That both were a part of Akatsuki did not bode well for the Leaf. Even if Sakura had not lived through several of Madara and Orochimaru's attacks on her timeline's Konoha, this fact would be obvious.

She hoped that this Konoha was in a better place to defend themselves against the Akatsuki. She knew that their relations with Suna were a little less strained, but one maybe-kind-of-sort-of ally wouldn't be enough. It hadn't been last time.

They reached the gates of Konoha, and Sakura sucked in a sharp breath. The guards on duty were two very familiar faces—Kotetsu and Izumo. They were sitting at the gatehouse's desk, looking a little bit younger, but otherwise identical to the memory Sakura held of _her _Konoha.

For a second, if felt like she was… coming home. _Home _home. Not this surrogate that was so close to her memories that she could almost pretend that it didn't have gaping holes where her precious people should be…

"Alright?" asked Jiraiya, having noticed her gasp. She looked up at him.

"Yes. Sorry, it's just… been a long time." Her voice was softer than normal as she tried to hide the ache in it. Jiraiya looked at her thoughtfully.

"If you want, I can report to Minato, and you can look for your boy."

Sakura assumed he meant Itachi; she'd had more interactions with him and with Naruto, though she considered both her 'boys'. The offer made her hesitate. She wanted to see Itachi, make sure he'd gotten through the last few years alright, but she also wanted to make sure Minato got all of the information he'd need. Although, with everything changing from the way it was in her timeline, maybe she couldn't add anything that Jiraiya and Minato didn't already know.

…And it wasn't as if she'd be gone for a long time again, so she could always tell them information when it became clear they needed it…

"Jiraiya and Sakura returning," the Toad Sage told Izumo and Kotetsu, once they'd gotten close enough to the desk.

"Welcome back, Jiraiya-sama, Sakura-san," said Kotetsu politely. He slid the large record book across the table toward them, and offered a pen. "Please sign in here. Do you want me to send a message to the Tower that you're back?"

"No, I'm going there right now, so it's not necessary," Jiraiya said, signing the book for both of them.

Sakura followed him as he walked down the main street of Konoha, heading toward the Hokage Tower. Her mind was racing along with her heart, her return after _years _of being away affecting her.

_:Will Naruto remember me?: _she fretted. _:He was so young when I left… Oh! Is he friends with Sasuke? Or are they still only meeting incidentally when Minato and Fugaku make nice for politics?:_

A horrible, cynical, broken part of her mind whispered, _:Or has the Uchiha Clan been assassinated while you were away? It's about that time, from your timeline…:_

Her gut twisted sharply, abruptly. She didn't really think that it was true—she and Jiraiya would have at the very least heard of such a paradigm shift; even outside of Fire Country, the fall of the Uchiha would be remarked upon. But they hadn't heard anything, so it couldn't be true.

But try telling that to Sakura's heart. She felt panic close its fist around the beating organ, squeezing it until her breath caught. She looked up at Jiraiya. "You know what? I think I will go find my apprentice. Are you still alright with reporting alone?"

"Sure," Jiraiya said. There was a shadow to his expression that said that he was remembering his slain apprentices, but Sakura couldn't stay to console him, not when there was a voice screaming at the back of her head that she had to find Itachi _right now _and make sure he was alright, and _not_a mass-murderer and villainized martyr.

She hesitated, shooting him a slightly wild look, and he waved her off. "Go."

She did.

Even though it had been years, and she was pretty sure Itachi had been _born_ with the ability to cloak his chakra, she was still tuned to her apprentice's signature and it was but the work of a minute to pick out his general location. He was at the large Inari shrine that had been set in the forest behind the Hokage Mountain. It covered a large patch of land, although the majority of that land was kept wooded, with winding paths lined in vermillion _tori_gates webbing it. There was an actual shrine building complex near the front, but she could tell Itachi was on the paths.

Sakura's first glimpse of her apprentice was a shock. She'd been expecting him to look older, but expecting and seeing were two different things. Itachi was taller, his childish frame beginning to tend toward a tempered leanness. His face was thinner, though not as gaunt as it was in her time. Her_omamori _was still in his hair.

She couldn't think of any meaningful way to announce her return, so she just _shushin_'d into his path and said: "Itachi!"

He tensed, and Sakura blinked in puzzlement, because surely he'd sensed her approach? But then his shoulders were relaxing, and a bit of warmth came into his eyes. "Sakura-sensei. Welcome home."

"It's been a long time," Sakura said, her happiness evident in her voice. "How are you? How's your family? How have your studies under Hokage-sama been going?"

She took a step forward, and she saw his shoulders tighten almost imperceptibly. _:What is going on? He seems… wary of me…:_

"My family is well. And I have learned a great deal from Hokage-sama. He has even given me access to some restricted scrolls that contain medical_fuuinjutsu_," Itachi replied.

As he spoke, Sakura surreptitiously tested the air. The scents she associated with Itachi were there—ash, grass, and the 'scentless' soap ninja used—but there was... something else. And… was that… fear? Sakura sat down, trying to seem nonchalant. Why was her student afraid of her? She sniffed a little harder.

"I'm glad," she said presently. "And impressed. Medical _fuuinjutsu _is among the most complicated."

_:He smells kind of like… like Kakashi, really. Has he been spending time with him? But why would he?:_

"Do you know medical _fuuinjutsu_, sensei?" Itachi asked.

_:Actually, it also kind of reminds me of Yamato-taichou, too. Like…:_

"Yes, I—" Sakura's mouth snapped shut as she realized just what it was about Itachi's scent that reminded her of Kakashi and Yamato.

She _henge_'d into her human form and lunged at Itachi in one swift jerk. Desperation lent wings to her feet, and she grabbed him before he could react, shoving up the sleeve of his shirt.

:_Weapons oil, porcelain dust, ink, lacquered bamboo…:_

Itachi's arm was rigid in her grasp, his expression closed up. His eyes had slipped into the Sharingan from startlement, and stared at her from a face gone bone-white.

_:They wore armor made of lacquered bamboo plates sandwiched between layers of heavy canvas, carried a ninjato as a badge of office, and hid behind porcelain masks…:_

Sakura stared at the swirling ANBU tattoo that glared at her from her apprentice's bared shoulder. She released him as if burned, and his sleeve fell back over the mark. She took a step back, finding it suddenly hard to breathe.

"No. _No_. Please tell me you didn't…" she whispered, wide green eyes caught on Itachi's pale face, his crimson eyes, his flared notrils and set jaw. _:No. Oh, no. Please…please…:_

"Sensei," Itachi said, his voice hoarse. Sakura jerked, and took a step back like a startled deer. Her _henge _dropped.

"I…I…" she fumbled, her throat closing up. _:I failed!:_

Sakura turned and fled.


	54. Spider Web

_TH: I very much dislike being sick. I blame any errors in this chapter on whatever blasted little thing is making my head feel like an overripe grape. Also, kudos to those who guessed at Itachi's purpose in ANBU._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-four**

**Theme:: Spider Web**

* * *

Sakura sat on a balcony in the building at the center of the Forest of Death, staring blankly out at the trees around her as tears ran silently down her face. She had _henge_'d again into her human form, needing her human capacity for grief. Foxes couldn't cry.

_:Itachi is ANBU…: _she thought, again. It hurt as much as the first time. She closed her eyes, a few more tears slipping down her cheeks. _:What went wrong? I got Itachi into medic-training, and gave him champions in his mother and the Hokage. Minato is the Hokage, and I… I'd thought that he would never allow someone as young as Itachi to join. Was it Danzo, then? But the paperwork to make someone ANBU has to go through the Hokage. In fact, the only reason Sandaime allowed Itachi to join in my time was because of the problem with the Uchiha… And relations between the Clan and Konoha are much better this time around… unless something changed drastically while I was gone.:_

She wished Itachi hadn't gotten caught up in that spider's web. ANBU may be idolized by younger ninja, and romanticized in novels, but the truth of their existence was much, much grimmer. They did the things that were not necessarily ethical or moral. The things Konoha could not admit to doing. Kakashi has spoken little of his time in the corps, but anything he ever said had been accompanied by a bleak, dead sort of tone and a thousand-yard stare. It had clearly changed him, and not for the better.

She didn't want that for Itachi.

"So here you are," said a voice behind her. Sakura jerked, and lost her grip on her _henge_. Startled, she looked up into the masked face of Kakashi. She felt a quick burst of joy at seeing him again.

"Kakashi!" she paused, tail twitching. "What are doing here?"

"That's the greeting I get after years of absence?" he asked lightly.

"You're right… Sorry. It is good to see you again, Kakashi," Sakura said, though subdued. His hand dropped on her head affectionately.

"Hokage-sama sent me to talk to you," he said. "He thought that it would be better; you'd be less inclined to yell at me, and I can tell you about ANBU… and Itachi-kun."

"I wouldn't yell at Minato-sama," Sakura said. Kakashi tilted his head.

"No?"

Sakura shook her head. "I'm not… angry, exactly. I'm just… Sad. I didn't want Itachi to be in ANBU. It'll break him. I was told once that ANBU kills everyone who serves in it, one way or another."

It had been her Kakashi that had said that.

"I think you may be underestimating Itachi," this Kakashi said.

Sakura gave him an incredulous look. She said, pointedly: "It broke _you_."

"I am not Itachi, and my reasons for joining were different," he said. Then, looking at her face and blinking, he asked delicately: "You _do _know Itachi's reasons, don't you?"

"Well…" Sakura said. Kakashi shook his head and interrupted.

"Before we do anything else, you should know that," he said. "But maybe not from me. You can come out here now."

Sakura blinked, not understanding, before she realized he wasn't talking to her. Itachi stepped soundlessly onto the balcony, his face canted downwards, expression carefully blank.

She knew that blankness. And saw how he avoided looking at her. He was hurt, and it was her fault.

_:I ran away from him,: _she realized, with a twist of her stomach. _:I ran away from him and I hurt him… I have to fix this.:_

She was tired from all the _henge_ and _shunshin_ she'd been doing that day, but she forced a _henge _one last time and threw her arms around him. He was so tense his muscles under her hands were trembling. "Oh, Itachi, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"You don't have to apologize, Sakura-sensei," he said, voice slightly muffled by her shoulder. "I chose to join ANBU. And… I would have joined even if you had been here."

Clever boy; he knew immediately what Sakura felt guilty for. But… "I don't understand," she whispered, trying to tamp down her gut reaction to his words, trying to hold herself together. "Can you try to explain it to me?"

Gently, she let him go and looked at his face. He was still not looking at her directly. "I chose to join ANBU. I know that I began my apprenticeship with you with the intention that I would wait until my agemates graduated the Academy, but that option disappeared when I began to learn _fuuinjutsu _from Hokage-sama. It would be permissible for me to be placed on a Genin Team if my most advanced skill-set was medical jutsu, but if I was also a Sealing Master on top of that…? So I looked for the best alternative option. And that was ANBU."

"But—!" Sakura blurted desperately. She bit her lip to stop the tumble of words on the tip of her tongue, took a deep breath, and started again: "I'm not going to insult your intelligence by talking to you as if you don't know what ANBU is, what they do. But I'm afraid what will happen when you're in the corps. They don't exactly follow your set of morals."

Itachi was silent a moment, thoughtful, deciding how to explain it to her. "For all that they are the most elite of our forces, the rate of survival for ANBU Teams is thirty-one percent lower than any other rank Team," he said slowly. "By that statistic alone, I would judge that ANBU would benefit the most from the inclusion of more medics on their Teams. But there is also the consideration that the best way to treat a wound is to avoid being wounded in the first place. For ANBU, this means avoiding detection, avoiding conflict whenever possible. The vast majority of ANBU missions are classed as stealth missions; having a Team member who is proficient in _genjutsu_ and _fuuinjutsu _as well as medical jutsu would decrease a Team's likelihood of detection by a third and increase its survival by over half. Sakura-sensei, I joined ANBU not to help my Teammates with their missions, but to help them stay alive during those missions."

"He asked me to sponsor him in," Kakashi said. He'd retreated from the conversation once Itachi took over, but hadn't left. "I refused until he explained that to me. Sakura, I know what ANBU can be like. Itachi knows. But he did not enter into this blindly, and was not forced into this by me, by his family, or by Minato-sama."

"I have no authority to challenge this, if your family and the Hokage have decided to allow it. But I can't pretend that I like it, or accept it," Sakura said quietly. "I understand your reasons, Itachi. I'm not angry with you, or disappointed in you. It's just that I'm afraid."

"Itachi's Team only takes certain missions," Kakashi said. "I can't say more than that, but knowing that should reassure you."

"Don't try that with me, Kakashi," she said, though without rancor. "I know just how wrong even the simplest of missions can go."

She stepped forward and touched Itachi's shoulder lightly. "That said, I will _never _turn you away, Itachi. I ran because I was afraid, and I didn't understand, and I thought it was my fault. I ran from my _guilt, _not from _you. _If you ever need anything, _anything, _you can come to me. And… if you still want it, I will always be your sensei. For as long as I am able, I will be there for you."

And Itachi finally, finally, looked up at her and met her eyes.

* * *

_TH: The feels. I have them._


	55. Spirit

_TH: "I want to protect everyone but they don't trust me, waaah, waaah. Guess I'll just be evil." Seriously, I have been really disappointed in the way the villains have been characterized in the manga. Apparently, everyone in Naruto is just misunderstood and no one is corrupted by power._

_Anyway, the abilities I attribute to a certain kitty are attributed to the source legend it came from. Oh yeah, there's this really great website that I stumble on! It's an encyclopedia of Japanese legendary creatures, and it's really interesting. It's the Obakemono Project if you want to google it._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-five**

**Theme:: Spirit**

* * *

Sakura yelped as her chakra wavered, guttering like a candle about to go out. Her _henge _dropped, and she fell to Itachi's feet, a fox once more. She squeaked when she landed, feeling the drain of all her jutsu on her chakra reserves as a muscle tremor.

"Sensei?" Itachi asked, crouching worriedly.

"I'm alright, I'm alright," she assured him. "Just tired."

Itachi touched her head with a green-glowing hand anyway. As her apprentice mother-henned her, Sakura looked up at Kakashi. "You said before that Minato-sama sent you? Does that mean he's out of his meeting with Jiraiya?"

"Yes," Kakashi replied. "It's been a few hours. I think Jiraiya-sama's getting ready to leave again."

"What?" Sakura startled. "Leave again already?"

"He has another mission," Kakashi nodded. Sakura's ears twitched and Itachi stood up.

"He hasn't already left, has he?" Sakura asked in concern. Kakashi shook his head. "Where do you think I could find—wait. Stupid question; nevermind."

* * *

Sakura did indeed find Jiraiya near the women's side of the hotsprings, but he didn't have his face pressed against his peeping hole. Instead, he was sitting on a nearby tree stump, head tipped back staring blankly at the sky. Hesitantly, Sakura edged forward.

"Jiraiya-sama?"

"Ah, Sakura-chan! Missed me too much to stay away long, eh?" he pasted a bright smile on his face. A mask. Sakura hesitated.

"Jiraiya-sama? Are you alright?"

There was a long pause, and Jiraiya's head tilted back again to the sky. "Alright?" he said musingly, a bitter little smile curling the edges of his mouth.

"Jiraiya-sama… Your apprentices… I'm sorry," she started awkwardly. How could you console the bereft when you thought the deceased were better off dead?

"I knew this was a possibility when I started teaching them," Jiraiya said. "But I don't think this is why you searched me out. Have you come to say goodbye?"

Sakura didn't think it was healthy, the way Jiraiya was avoiding the topic of his grief, but he very clearly wasn't going to talk about it, and there was no way Sakura could ever get him to do what he didn't want to do. Maybe if Tsunade was there… He had always been more responsive to his old Teammates. But she was still off wandering with Shizune, unable to let go of her past and yet unwilling to associate with anyone from it.

"Kakashi said you were leaving on another mission soon," Sakura said quietly.

"I am going to Kumo, to talk to their Jinchuuriki," he said. Sakura blinked.

"The… Nibi?" she said.

"The Nekomata can speak with the spirits of the dead," Jiraiya said shortly. "And we need to know if Madara has Nagato's Rinnegan."

"Oh!" Sakura said. "That's… a really good idea. Do you think you'll be able to speak with her? The Jinchuuriki?"

"Minato has sent a message ahead to Kumo. Our relations aren't so bad with them that they'll refuse out-of-hand. They might have some strong strictures on how and when we can meet, but I imagine they will let it happen."

It would be good for Jiraiya if he could talk to his apprentices once more, even if it was through the medium of the Nibi. As Sakura understood it, Yugito Nii, the Jinchuuriki, had one of the better relationships with her Bijuu tenant. She should be able to help Jiraiya contact the spirits of Konan, Nagato, and Yahiko. They should finally find out whether Madara took the Rinnegan. And Jiraiya could have some closure.

"Are you explaining to them why you want a meeting?"

"Yes," Jiraiya said. "If they require that we meet with escorts, it would be impossible to keep the truth from them, since I would have to speak aloud to the Jinchuuriki to tell her what questions to ask the spirits."

"That's true," Sakura said. "And I'm kind of glad. Madara isn't just a threat to us; I think they should know he's out there."

"I will warn them," assured Jiraiya. "Minato said the same thing as you."

Sakura relaxed a little. If Madara went after the Jinchuuriki again, then maybe this fore-warning would help. "I hope you have good luck, Jiraiya-sama. But be careful just the same."

"I always am," he replied.


	56. Sweet

_TH: Oo. What do you think this means? :)_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-six**

**Theme:: Sweet**

* * *

Even if Jiraiya had given their report to Minato, Sakura still had to debrief with the Hokage after her mission. So after she had seen Jiraiya off at the gate, she went to the Tower and up to the office. Minato wasn't in a meeting, fortuitously, so Sakura was able to walk right in. Minato looked at her warily.

"Did Kakashi find you?" he asked.

"Yes," Sakura replied. "And no, I'm not mad at you. I don't like it, but I understand it was Itachi's choice."

Minato's shoulders relaxed. "Good. I'm glad; Itachi was concerned you would be upset with him."

Sakura's conscience twinged, because she _had _hurt him when she ran away from him. "We talked," she said. "And he explained his reasons… I can't hold him back from doing what he thinks it right, especially when he's convinced me that it is the right thing. I just… wish that it didn't have to be _him_ doing the right things and putting himself in danger."

Minato was smirking by the end of her response, so she eyed him and said: "What?"

He rubbed a hand across his mouth, but failed to erase the smirk. "Oh nothing… Just that you sound like a parent. Little mother Sakura."

"You would know," Sakura shot back. Minato laughed.

"True. Once Naruto starts the Academy I think I'll just preemptively dye my hair gray. He's already driving me up a wall. The amount of trouble that kid can get into…" he shook his head.

"How _is_ Naruto doing?" Sakura asked, suddenly desperate for some news. Minato smiled fondly.

"He's doing very well. He has two nannies who were former Chuunin, and he regularly runs them into the ground. I don't know if it's because of his tenant or if it's just because he's a child, but Naruto has nearly limitless energy. It's a full-time job just to keep up with him; which is why I hired the retired Chuunin."

Sakura knew that 'retired' for ninja did not mean old; ninja didn't often survive to that point. Instead, these ex-Chuunin were probably people who had been injured in such a way that they couldn't continue with the profession, or had decided that being a ninja wasn't the career they really wanted anymore. Curious, Sakura asked: "Who are they?"

"Kogoro Takeshi and Uchiha Kaede," he replied. "Takeshi-kun is mute and partially paralyzed on the right side of his body from an injury during the war, but he has a way with Naruto such that my little hellion barely gives him any trouble.

"Kaede was the mother of one of my students; she is a sweet woman who had never been particularly suited for our profession, but since she was an Uchiha… Well, she resigned as soon as she was married. I got to know her a little when her son was my student."

_:Obito,: _Sakura realized. _:She's Obito's mother…:_

"She fell into a depression when Obito died," Minato continued, "but I think being around Naruto has helped tremendously; I think he reminds her of Obito a little."

It also probably helped that she was an Uchiha, and the act of giving her responsibility for the Hokage's son's safety was a very strong show of trust and inclusion for the Uchiha. That was still probably a consideration, since Madara was still out there (and still wishing ill of both the Clan and Konoha), though Sakura was sure that it was far from Minato's primary reason; he wouldn't turn Naruto over to just anyone. If he was giving Kaede the position, then it was because he thought she was the best choice, regardless.

"And Naruto adores her," Minato said, his smile becoming a little sad. He was probably thinking of Naruto's mother and how much he regreted that she wasn't there.

"I'm glad Naruto is happy," Sakura said. "There haven't been any… problems, have there?"

"Nothing terrible," Minato sighed. "But some of the other children's parents don't let them play with Naruto. A lot of the civilians, because they don't quite understand the full theory of seals and don't know that the Naruto isn't the Kyuubi. And some ninja are having trouble separating the Jinchuuriki from the Bijuu emotionally, because they or someone they knew was hurt by the Fox and it's hard to look at a Jinchuuriki and _not _see the Bijuu they imprison, and be reminded of their loss and pain."

"I see," Sakura said, a little sadly. It made sense, what Minato said, but it was still upsetting that Naruto had to deal with that prejudice again. At least this time he had his father as a champion.

"Anyway," Minato shook his head. "Naruto's caretakers should be bringing him around soon; he usually visits me about now so that we can walk home together. If you want to stick around, you can see him again. You'll be surprised how much he's grown."

"Yes! I'd love to see him again," Sakura said. "It's been so long! I wonder if he'll remember me…"

"I think you're about to find out," Minato said smiling, as the sound of a ruckus outside the office was slowly growing. He stood up and starting coming around the front of his desk, just as the door slammed open and a small blond blur streaked inside.

"Oyaji! Oyaji! Oyaji!"

Sakura's heart seized, because that voice, that _tone_… It was pure Naruto. She caught her breath, feeling the recognition like a stab. Minato caught Naruto and laughed, spinning him around before setting his feet back on the floor. It was then that Naruto noticed Sakura, and blinked, grabbing his father's hand.

"Naruto, this is Sakura. Do you remember her? You met when you were really little," Minato said. Naruto stared at her intently for a moment… and then barked.

"Naruto…" Minato said warningly, clearing assuming that he was being rude. But Sakura… Her jaw dropped and her tail—previously lazily swishing—went still.

He barked… and it _meant _something. Minato couldn't hear it because he was human, but Sakura was a fox, and to her… Naruto was saying hello.


	57. Awareness

_TH: Brought to you by: the time it's taking my BEMAD reaction to run. Science! It's 50% failure, 30% waiting, 15% praying for experiments to work, and 5% success. Woo._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-seven**

**Theme:: Awareness**

* * *

Minato clearly noticed Sakura's expression, because he said her name warily, questioningly. It took her a moment to pick her jaw up off the ground to answer.

"Hang on a second," she said, then paused to collect herself. She rarely spoke in her body's native fox 'language', and it took a moment to switch back into it. Once she had gotten to it mentally, she looked at Naruto. _"Hi, Naruto-kun. Will you wave for me?"_

Naruto grinned cutely at her and waved. Sakura swallowed. "Well," she said, switching back into human speech, "that answers that."

"Mind explaining?" Minato asked tersely. It occurred to Sakura that he didn't like not knowing what was happening with his son.

"Minato-sama, he can speak to me in… well, in 'fox'. And he can understand it if I answer."

Minato's face was carefully blank, but it didn't take a genius to know what he was thinking. The Kyuubi. Was it influencing Naruto? Bleeding over? Was this just a product of being a Jinchuuriki?

For her part, Sakura could not remember if her timeline's Naruto had been able to talk to canids in their own tongue. He'd certainly never admitted it, if he could.

Minato knelt in front of Naruto, putting his hands on his son's slight shoulders. "Naruto," he said solemnly. "I'm going to ask you a couple questions. Could you answer them for me?"

"Un!" Naruto hummed acknowledgement, nodding once.

"Is there a voice that talks to you sometimes in here?" Minato asked, touching Naruto's head lightly. Naruto nodded, and Sakura's heart sank. "What does it say to you, Naruto?"

"Mean things," the boy replied guilessly. "But I don't like it when it's mean about you or Kakashi-san, or Takashi, or Kaede-bachan. So I tell it to be quiet, and it is."

Minato closed his eyes momentarily, and Sakura could see in his tight expression the curses running through his mind. He opened his eyes to look Naruto in the face again. "Does it always listen to you, Naruto?"

"Yeah," he said. He seemed utterly unperturbed that there was a voice in his head. But then, maybe he didn't know it wasn't normal.

_:Oh, please, please please, let it not be because I altered the seal… Please… Don't let it be the Kyuubi gaining more freedom…: _Sakura felt faintly ill. She didn't think her time's Naruto had had the Kyuubi whispering in his ear this early; she remembered Naruto telling her the first time he'd become aware of the Fox was when they graduated the Academy. But maybe he just hadn't realized that some of the thoughts he'd had weren't his own?

No, that was foolish and wishful thinking.

"Have you checked the seal recently?" Sakura asked Minato lowly, off to the side.

"I check it regularly," he replied, his brow knitted in worry and thought. "But I wasn't checking it for… for this kind of thing. The seal is still strong, and it does what it was intended… But…"

"But you hadn't considered the possibility of the—of _it _talking to Naruto," Sakura finished. "You might think about telling Naruto about _it_. Don't scowl at me. He has a right to know, and it might be better if he does. Then he can know the full reason why he shouldn't listen to it."

"Maybe," Minato sighed, rubbing his hands through his hair. "But in any case, I'm going to need to run some tests, in case the Council catches wind of this. I'll need to assure them without a doubt that nothing is wrong with the seal."

"I'm sorry," Sakura said sadly.

"You've nothing to be sorry for," Minato said, shaking his head. "But I am going to ask you if you'd be a part of a few of the tests. I want to check this fox-speech thing."


	58. Bite

_TH: NO. BAD WEATHER, BAD. Stop it!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-eight**

**Theme:: Bite**

* * *

Sakura was hunting; she didn't have to, to eat, but it was therapeutic and nobody ever turned down a bit of extra meat—especially in a Hidden Village. There was very little farmland around Konoha; all their food was either produced at Village-run farms in different areas of Fire Country, or they traded for it. To get really fresh meat, one had to hunt for it on their own.

Sakura was partial to venison, but with the Nara Clan in residence in Konoha, deer were off-limits. Rabbits were plentiful, though… unsurprisingly. And they offered a good chase, which was what she needed. It released some of the tension she'd been carrying around since the whole Naruto-Kyuubi debacle. They had eventually concluded that his ability to speak in the fox 'tongue' was a direct result of having the Kyuubi sealed in him; inadvertent, but also benign. The Kyuubi wasn't bleeding over any more into Naruto than the seal was intended to allow… But it still bothered Sakura that the Kyuubi was so active in Naruto's life so early.

When she'd started studying _fuuinjutsu_, she had taken the time with Naruto to study his seal in depth. However, by that time, it had been screwed with several times by different people. Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Yamato, Naruto himself, and even a fragment of the Yondaime Hokage's soul, to name a few. It wasn't the seal it had originally been, and Sakura hadn't _seen _the original seal ever, so she wasn't sure how _this _Naruto's seal differed. When she'd changed the array, did she change it to the permutation she had studied on _her _Naruto, thereby making the seal more open and allowing the Kyuubi to speak to Naruto earlier than he would have?

She had worried about this kind of thing when she'd first arrived, but had ultimately dismissed it since it was a moot point—she'd already inadvertently saved Minato—and in any case, if she had the chance to improve things, she felt obligated to try. Would she have been able to live with herself if she let things happen that she _knew _would result in the deaths of people around her? Could she really let Asuma die? Let Itachi be broken into a murderer and scapegoat? Could she let that suffering happen when she could prevent it? Even if she wouldn't know the consequences of changing things, didn't she have a moral obligation to try?

It had been a difficult decision to make—choosing to make the attempt even if it could ruin everything. And some things had gone wrong. Her family—and this timeline's Haruno Sakura—had died. Madara had utterly crushed Ame, killing every last ninja of that country. And probably some other disasters she was unaware of.

How much of that was because of changes she'd wrought, and how much was just attributable to the 'differentness' of this timeline? She didn't know, and probably never would. She'd have to live with that always.

The rabbit she was chasing squeaked when she hit it with her forepaws, jaws decending, wide open. It died in her teeth, her strong bite snapping its neck.


	59. Stumble

_TH: If April showers bring May flowers, then what do April snow storms bring? Despair and depression?_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-nine**

**Theme:: Stumble**

* * *

"I have a proposition for you," Minato said as Sakura trotted into the office she shared with two other medic-ninja. She blinked at him, for his abrupt statement and his unexpected presence at the hospital in the first place.

"Er. What?" she said. Minato perched on her desk, crossing his left leg over his right, bracing his calf against the knee and bouncing his foot up and down.

"What would you say if I asked you to teach at the Academy?"

Sakura gaped.

"I don't… uh…" she started, stumbling over her surprise at the out-of-the-blue question.

"The Chuunin who used to teach the students basic first-aid has retired, and I'd like to offer you the position," Minato said. "I think you would be perfect for the job."

"I… don't have too much experience with children," Sakura said. "And Itachi doesn't count."

"You're good with Naruto," he said.

"I…" Sakura sighed. She recognized his expression. He wouldn't let up until she caved. "Fine, I'll think about it."

"Think fast," he said, smirking. "You have five minutes."

"What? Why?"

"Well, the Council doesn't know I'm offering it to you. We're meeting in five minutes to discuss to whom we may offer the job. If you say you're interested, then I can put your name forward for consideration. I am certain they will decide on you; who better to teach the next generation than our _Hanagitsune_?"

"The Council decides on the Academy faculty?" Sakura said.

"Yes, of course; the teachers mold our future ninja force, and so the Village's Council and its Hokage decide who will do that molding." Well, put that way…

"You have three minutes," Minato let her know pleasantly. Sakura shot him a very unamused look.

"What about my hours at the hospital? I need a minimum to keep my position there," she said, even though she presumed that he had an answer.

"You'd go on special status," Minato said calmly.

"Would I take missions?"

"No."

Was that what she wanted? She had once been a combat ninja, but… She didn't have her _taijutsu _when she was in fox form, and holding a _henge _for the duration of a battle wasn't an option, not with her chakra reserves. The strength that had made her a formidable fighter was gone with her human body. She was at a disadvantage as a fox fighting humans—they could use weapons and she couldn't, they had gripping hands and she only had claws and teeth, they had greater reach. Since she'd changed form, she'd switched from combat to support; now she mostly acted as reconnaissance and medical. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to become a teacher, and give up missions. Yes, it would be taking a skilled medic-nin out of the field, but she would be training incoming Genin how to keep themselves and their Teammates alive. One skilled medic-nin for dozens upon dozens of ninja well-trained in field medicine? It seemed a fair trade.

Sakura looked at Minato. "Alright. Yes, I will take the position."

He smiled. "I'd hoped you'd say that."


	60. Mistakes

_TH: Seriously, I don't understand the human race sometimes._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Sixty**

**Theme:: Mistakes**

* * *

Kakashi set the inkwell down next to the scroll, which he'd opened and weighed down smooth with a pair of kunai. A traditional horsehair brush was set just below the bottom edge of the scroll. Finished with the set up, he straightened and looked over at Sakura.

"Is that everything?" he asked. She nodded.

"Thank you very much, Kakashi," she said. He gave her one of the eye-creasing smiles she remembered from _her_ Kakashi.

"It wasn't a problem," he assured her, before pausing. "But as payment, could I watch?"

Some Sealing Masters kept their techniques secret, and did not allow anyone to watch them as they formed their arrays. Sakura wasn't so much of a curmudgeon. "Of course," she replied. "If you want to ask question, too, that's fine. I'm not going to be trying anything very complicated, so I don't need to be as strict about my concentration."

"Well, then," Kakashi said. "What will you be making?"

"Hm," Sakura said. She hadn't really thought about it; she'd planned on just letting her brush guide her. But now that he asked, an idea was fluttering around inside her head. "Perhaps I'll make a gift for you."

"What kind of gift?" Kakashi asked with a note of wariness; he hadn't forgotten their prank war. Sakura gave him a fox grin, but didn't respond. Turning, she closed her eyes, breathed, and—

Exhaling and opening her eyes, Sakura took up the calligraphy brush in her human fingers and leaned over the scroll. Dipping the brush into the ink, she lifted it and with deft movements, began to draw.

"Someone I once knew used this seal," she said as she carefully guided the brush. Any mistakes would render the seal useless.

"What does it do?" Kakashi asked without taking his eye off of the growing swirls of ink.

"That would be telling," Sakura laughed, re-inking her brush. She stuck her tongue between her teeth as she touched some thin lines onto the paper. She could feel a steady pulling on her chakra—she had to infuse the array with chakra as she inked it, and she could only properly ink it if she had her human dexterity (and opposable thumbs). The combined _henge _and sealing was quickly draining her.

But she finished with a good amount of chakra left—it wasn't an advanced seal—and sat back. "Bring me a dozen each of kunai, senbon, and shuriken, please," she asked Kakashi.

He gave her a look, but emptied out his leg weapons pouch. Sakura set the sharp pile on top of the seal array, and touched a finger to the bit of ink visible at edge and sent a pulse of chakra into the seal. The weapons vanished into it. Sakura let go of her _henge _with a soft puff of air.

"Alright!" she chirped. "There you are, your present it finished!"

"It has the basis of a storage scroll, but you added some modifiers that I didn't recognize," Kakashi said. "What does this thing do?"

"You studied _fuuinjutsu_?" Sakura asked, surprised that he had recognized some of the components.

"A little," he said. "Consider who my teacher was."

"True," she acknowledged. "Anyway… As for what it does, let's take a trip to a Training Ground and find out!"

The dubious look on Kakashi's face as they left their shared apartment was blasted from his face as soon as they'd reached Training Ground Twelve and he activated the seal. Whatever he'd been expecting clearly wasn't what happened when he touched a chakra-infused hand to the scroll.

At his touch, the weaponry Sakura had put inside the seal exploded outward with great force. The myriad bladed projectiles thudded into tree and ground within a twenty yard range, covering about 120 degrees.

Sakura smiled fondly, remembering a certain weapons-specialist kunoichi from her time. Tenten had used this seal with great effect during the war. Sakura didn't think Tenten would begrudge her the use.

"That was…" Kakashi said, "…nice."

Sakura snorted in amusement. "You can modify the force, range, and spread within certain limits. Send the weapons a hundred yards, or example, but only if you have a spread of fifteen degrees. This one is sort of the middle-range of what it can do, and the most versatile in battle."

Kakashi was silent a moment, surveying the damage. "These are re-loadable, I assume?"

"Yes."

The gleam in Kakashi's eye didn't bode well for their enemies. "How many could you make?"


	61. Fade Away

_TH: Oh, for freakin' crying out loud... This is the final nail in the Naruto coffin for me. Sasuke flip-flops like a dying fish and on top of all the ridiculousness that has been happening in the past few manga chapters, I just can't even... No. And you can bet your bum that if somebody tried to kill me, I would never act chummy with them again... I'M LOOKIN' AT YOU, KARIN. WTF? Way to completely undermine the intensity of that moment during the fight with Danzo, Kishimoto. Gawd._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-one**

**Theme:: Fade Away**

* * *

Jiraiya walked away from the meeting with Yugito Nii, Nibi Jinchuriki, with a heavy heart. He had hoped, perhaps foolishly, that she would reveal that his apprentices' deaths had been faked, that they were still alive somewhere. Unfortunately, he instead got incontrovertible proof that Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko were dead. The only piece of good news he managed to salvage from the meeting was that Nagato had taken the Rinnegan with him in death; Madara did not have it.

It was scarce reassurance. Jiraiya would have much rather had his apprentices alive. But he had long ago learned how to deal with loss, and fixating on what-ifs and regrets was not it. Minato would want to know the news; it would be a weight off his shoulders to know Madara didn't have such a powerful weapon.

Jiraiya began the journey home, and if he was moving a little slower than normal… well, it was just because he was enjoying the—ahem—_scenery_. There was nothing that could take his mind off his troubles (or at least let him pretend at the illusion) like the shapely body of pretty woman.

It was in the third village he stopped in that he overheard some people murmuring about the buxom, luckless woman currently filling the pockets of her opponents at the local gambling establishment. Without really thinking about it, Jiraiya's feel took him toward the building.

Tsunade was cleaned out when he arrived, and sitting in the attached bar, knocking back sake like it was water. She grunted when he sat down next to her: "That's my assistant's seat. Go away."

"Is that any way to greet your Teammate?" Jiraiya chided. He saw her lip curl from the corner of his eye.

"_Former _Teammate," she corrected, throwing a saucer of sake down her throat and mashing the saucer back to the countertop in front of her. "And if you're here to try to get me to go back again, the answer's still no."

Jiraiya grabbed Shizune's saucer and poured himself some sake—Tsunade sure wasn't about to pour for him—and didn't respond. He sipped… It was the good stuff, of which he was sure Tsunade was going to skip out on the bill. After a moment of silence, he said quietly: "Remember those Ame orphans I took care of for a while? They're dead."

Tsunade's hand paused on the neck of the sake bottle, before smoothly continuing the motions to refill her saucer. "I told you you'd regret it when you took them on."

Anyone else might have been off-put by the harshness in her tone. But there wasn't a person alive who understood Tsunade better than he did. What she was really saying—the message hidden in the small gestures she made and the sidelong look she flicked toward him—was: _I am sorry_.

He took another drink.

"Don't you miss it at all? Even a little bit?" he asked. "Home?"

"No." Tsunade's spine was rigid, her tone uncompromising.

"Mm," Jiraiya hummed. He spun his saucer slowly between his fingers. "There's a new medical ninja making her name there. A wandering kunoichi who had an unforetunate run-in with the Kyuubi. Maybe you've heard of her—_Konoha no Hanagitsune_?"

"Yeah, I've heard of her," Tsunade grunted. "Isn't she a summons or something?"

"That was the story for a while," he said. "But she's really a kunoichi. She channeled the Kyuubi's power through her, and the exposure to its natural chakra twisted her shape into that of a fox."

"Sucks to be her," the Slug Princess said, drinking.

"I think you'd like her," Jiraiya told her.

"Mm." Now it was Tsunade's turn to hum. "Oh, look, Shizune's coming back. Get out of her seat."

Jiraiya stood, having already pressed his luck with his Teammate. "I should be moving on anyway. And, _hime_, if you change your mind…"

He let his words fade away. Tsunade didn't answer, but he knew better than to wait for her to anyway.


	62. Haunted

_Author's note at end._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-two**

**Theme:: Haunted**

* * *

Sakura was spending the evening with Minato and Naruto, playing Nine Ninja with Naruto on the floor of their living room while Minato pretended to do some paperwork at the small coffee table. The remains of their dinner were scattered around them, ramen bowls and a small plate with sweet mochi set on the floor so that Minato could use the coffee table—the only flat surface in the room beside the floor.

"No, I totally got that one!" Naruto protested, pointing at one of the cards laying face up on the game mat they'd spread out. A small wooden shuriken-shaped game piece lay adjacent to the card, only just missing touching it.

"I don't know, Naruto, it looks like you only _just _missed it," Sakura said. The two game-players stood behind a line on the other side of the room. "Should we ask your father to judge?"

"Yeah!" Naruto said, and ran over to Minato. "C'mon, c'mon! I totally got it! Say it!"

Minato smiled and stood up, walking over to the cards, making a show of inspecting them. "Well… Hmmm…"

"Come on, Oyaji!" Naruto whined. "Tell Sasa-nee I won!"

Minato looked up solemnly, and pronounced with grave dignity: "I'm afraid… it's… a tie."

"Yeah! I w—WHAT?" Naruto started to do a victory jig before his father's words penetrated, and then he flopped over dramatically. "Nooooo, Oooooyaaaajiiiiiiiii! I won! I was supposed to win!"

"Better luck next time, Naruto," Minato chuckled. "I'm sure when you persuade me to play this with you tomorrow, you'll beat me like usual."

"Yeah, but I've never beaten Sasa-nee!" Naruto pouted.

Somebody pounded on the door. Minato's brow furrowed. Sakura looked up. "Expecting anybody?"

"No," Minato said. "And usually nobody bothers me when I'm at home unless it's an emergency."

Sakura's stomach swooped as suddenly she had a very bad feeling. Something had happened, she just knew it.

"Naruto, stay here," Sakura told the boy as she followed Minato toward the front door. The pounding came again.

"What is it?" Minato asked as he opened the door, "What's happ—Itachi!"

Minato threw the door wide, and Sakura was able to look out and see her apprentice standing at the threshold, deathly pale and covered in blood.

She gasped. "Itachi!"

The young ANBU looked up dazedly, his face slack in shock, his eyes wide and blank and haunted. Sakura could see the slow dilation and contraction of his pupils as he struggled to focus on Minato.

"I—" he said, swaying. "I killed my father."

* * *

_TH: Oh snap. :P_

_Nine Ninja is mostly made up. The intention is to help train young ninja-wanna-be's hand-eye coordination. It involves tossing things across the room at targets. Kinda like horseshoes._


	63. Fighting

_TH: Don't think I have anything to say._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-three**

**Theme:: Fighting**

* * *

"Itachi…" Sakura said, her heart constricting. "That blood…"

Itachi blinked, then slowly looked down at himself. "Oh," he said blankly. "Most of it isn't mine."

Sakura swallowed a sob at the dullness of his voice. Minato was striding forward, taking Itachi by the shoulders and gently steering him inside. The Hokage gently but firmly sat the young ANBU down on the edge of the foyer and said: "Sakura."

There was an order in his voice. Sakura nodded, and _henge_'d as Minato stepped out of the open door and closing it with a snap behind him. She sat next to Itachi and gently laid a hand on his bare shoulder. The contact made him shiver and he almost pulled away, but Sakura said "Itachi." And he stilled.

"Are you still injured?" she asked. He shook his head dazedly. Injured or not, he was still in shock.

"There… There was something wrong," he said haltingly. "He wasn't… He tried to kill me, and… He wasn't…"

Itachi suddenly bowed forward, doubled over his knees, and threw up onto the tile floor of Minato's home's entrance. Sakura shushed him and rubbed his back as he shivered and retched.

"Sasa-nee?" Naruto's voice was more hesitant than Sakura had ever heard it. She turned, fully prepared to tell him to go to his room until his father came to get him, but at the sound of his voice, Itachi reacted.

"S-Sasuke," he said, staggering up. "The Clan… I have to—"

"Itachi!" Sakura said, grabbing him. "Stop! You're not going anywhere in that condition; I think you may have been poisoned."

"Yes," Itachi said. "He poisoned me, but he wasn't Father, because Father doesn't use poison."

"What?" Sakura said, confused. She shook her head. "Itachi. Itachi, calm down. Sit down. Naruto, you have to sit down and be quiet too, understand?"

She concentrated a moment on pulling the poison in Itachi's bloodstream out, giving a sigh of short-lived relief as his trembling faded. The poison was a tricky one that wrecked havoc on one's chakra network—likely why he hadn't cleansed himself of it. Once she'd cleared as much of it out as she could, she released her molded chakra, just as Minato returned.

The grim-faced Hokage opened the door and blew in with Danzo and a squad of ANBU in his wake. Sakura couldn't help her flinch when she saw the scarred old man, though logically she understood why he was there. This sort of incident required discretion, at least until they knew more of what was going on, and nobody was more discrete than ANBU. As the commander of ANBU (under the Hokage), it made sense for Danzo to be there.

"Better?" Minato said, glancing between Sakura and Itachi. Sakura nodded, while Itachi went still and tense beside her. "Good. Then, please explain what happened, again, Itachi."

It was an order. Itachi took a breath.

"I was returning from a mission," he began, picking at the bloodstained ANBU armor vest he was wearing, "when my Team came across my father outside the Village walls, in the northwest. I thought that there was something wrong with the way he was acting—he was muttering to himself and moving… oddly. So, with my Team, I confronted him."

Itachi swallowed visibly and looked down. "He attacked us without warning and with… unusual violence. My Teammates…"

"Dispatch an ANBU Team to collect the remains," Minato said to one of the ANBU Danzo had brought with him. The masked kunoichi bowed slightly and disappeared. To Itachi, softly, Minato said: "Go on."

"I'm sorry. I was too slow to react. I wasn't… I could tell something was wrong with my father, that he wasn't acting like himself. I—"

"I understand," Minato said. "You don't have to rationalize your actions."

"I didn't fight to kill until he killed my Team. At that point, my priority shifted from subduing and capturing to eliminating the threat. He nearly gutted me—" Itachi's fingers grazed over the jagged rend across the torso of his armor "—but I was too fast and I got him instead. When he died, I could see something change in his eyes, and that was the last piece of evidence I needed to confirm what I'd suspected. Someone had been using him as a puppet."

There was moment of thoughtful silence.

"Given what we know, my first suspect would be Madara," Minato said finally. "He's shown a desire to break Konoha and the Uchiha Clan apart; doubtless he was planning on controlling your father in order to create some sort of incident."

"We need to secure all the remaining members of the Uchiha Clan," Danzo said. "There is no telling whether Madara has gotten his hands on any others."

"No," Itachi said. "You cannot simply lock up my family; they will not see it for safety, they will take it for distrust and insult."

"Then what would you suggest, _boy_?" Danzo asked, with obvious contempt.

"The commander will remember to keep a civil tongue in his head," Minato snapped.

"I would suggest making the events known to the Clan—all of the Clan. Their Head is dead, and they deserve to know how and why. Just make it apparent that your intention is to work with the Clan to address this threat to their integrity." Itachi said. "Your trust will go a long way to placating them; the Uchiha, after all, hold traditional ideas about honor and will respond to the implication of trust in that honor."

Minato nodded. "That was my thought as well. Mouse."

One of the remaining ANBU tilted his head. Minato ordered him: "Take four ANBU squads and go door-to-door in the Uchiha compound; tell them what has happened and that I wish to address them all in the main audience chamber at the Tower in one hour."

"Hokage-sama," Danzo protested as Mouse disappeared. "That is not safe for you to do."

"I'll have ANBU there," Minato said dismissively. "Beside, it must be done, and I must be the one to do it."

"I will be there as well, Hokage-sama," Itachi said. "As it was I who killed my father."

Minato gave Itachi a once-over. "Very well. Do you want to change first?"

"No," Itachi said quietly, looking at his blood-spattered self. After hearing the story of what had happened, Sakura now was wondering how much of it was from his father and how much was from his dead Teammates. "It may be better not to hid this from them, either."

Minato nodded understanding. "Sakura," he turned to her. "Will you stay here with Naruto?"

Naruto had up to this point been watching everything from the corner, his eyes wide and frightened. At his father's mention of his name, he threw himself toward Minato. The Hokage held his son tightly for a moment, before whispering something into his ear and letting him go. Naruto nodded and went to Sakura, slipping his hand into hers.

"Of course, Hokage-sama," she said, curling her fingers around Naruto's little ones.**  
**


	64. Waiting

_TH: Don't think I have anything to say._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-four**

**Theme:: Waiting**

* * *

Waiting was intensely frustrating. Sakura had been distracted for about an hour and a half while she reassured Naruto that everything would be okay and tried to persuade him to go to bed. After extracting a promise that she'd wake him up as soon as his father got home, Naruto finally capitulated, and went upstair yawning. Which left Sakura to wear a hole in the tatami mats of Minato's traditionally-styled living room.

_:This was too little,: _she fretted. _:Madara wouldn't just puppet Fugaku in an attempt to sow dischord in Konoha. That's too simple, too easily thwarted. What else did he plan? What else will happen? Or… was it Madara? But who else could it be? One of the other Villages? Iwa wouldn't have the guts, not with the Yellow Flash as our Hokage. Suna is our ally, and I don't mean that in a 'kinda-sorta-well-actually-we're-gonna-invade-you- during-the-Chuunin-Exam' kind of way. Maybe Kumo… Or Kiri… But…:_

Her tail thumped the floor agitatedly. _:I hate this! I want answers!:_

Realistically, she knew that she might not get answers. She wasn't cleared for very high security, and she wasn't entitled to the information as she wasn't directly involved. If Minato decided that whatever they found out about this incident was sensitive, then she might be left in the dark.

The thought nearly made her blood boil with frustration. She was too used to preferential treatment from being Tsunade's apprentice and Naruto's friend/Teammate. Being friendly with the Hokage wasn't enough to get her security clearance, unfortunately. She just had to hope that it wouldn't be sealed classified and she'd be able to know what had happened.

She sighed and her ears drooped a little. Poor Itachi; it seemed that the fates really did have it in for him. Even though Sakura had tried her best to protect him, bad stuff still found him. The triage incident that had crystallized his feelings of pacifism, his first kill, and now he'd killed his—

_:Oh _shit_,: _Sakura's heart clenched into a tight ball of dread as the realization hit her with a very visceral response. _:Oh no. Itachi killed his father. Probably with his Sharingan on. He'll remember it forever, and not only that, but it will have also given him the Mangekyo.:_

Sakura closed her eyes, mourning the fact that Itachi would never escape the sorrows fate seemed set on laying upon him. _:It isn't fair!: _wailed a small voice at the back of her mind. She grimaced. _:At least it wasn't his whole clan…:_

As reassurances went, it was a dismal one, and really didn't make Sakura feel any less bad for her apprentice. Itachi was still going to need some serious counseling to cope with the fact that he'd killed his father.


	65. Calling

_TH: Hm. Perhaps my hints were too subtle. Only one of you has guessed the true perpetrator. _

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-five**

**Theme:: Calling**

* * *

Minato was running on his last dregs of patience. The whole of the Uchiha Clan—every last child and oldster—had gathered as he'd requested, and the Council had been roused from their beds as well. Everyone was assembled in the main audience chamber of the Hokage Tower.

It was a room of chaos—shouting adults, crying children, Councilmembers calling for Itachi to stand trial, ninja demanding further explanation, worried mothers wondering what was going to be done to protect their children…

"How do we know it was self-defense?" asked Homura, "It is no secret the boy and his father did not get along; that is motive for homicide!"

"Are you suggesting," Mikoto asked icily from her place beside Itachi, "that my _pacifist _son became upset with his father's pressuring him to become an assassination specialist, so he _murdered _him?"

The scorn in her voice was truly cutting. Homura blustered, trying to defend his utterly illogical statement. Minato sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Everything had started off well enough—considering the nature of the meeting—with Mikoto not even hesitating to embrace her son and kiss his face, accepting the news and mourning _with _Itachi. There was a moment of shocked and sorrowful silence, and then the muttering began. And then a little later, the arguing began.

Some of the Uchiha wondered if this wasn't all some sort of ploy to ostracize them, some wanted to know what would be done. The Council wanted an official inquiry; they wanted the remaining Uchiha to be locked up 'just in case'.

Finally, Minato had had it. He straightened up and said, in his best battle-voice: "That is enough!"

It was a modulation of his voice that was meant to be easily heard on a battlefield; it cut easily through the noisy room. It only took a few seconds for everyone (except for the crying children, who really couldn't help it) to fall silent.

"We are _not _going to lock up the Uchiha," Minato said firmly. "We are also _going_ to have an investigation into the events that took place tonight. Even though Itachi-san is one of my trusted ANBU, and even though he is the son of a Clan Head, he is not exception to the law. We have to know what occurred. He will be questioned; the matter will be investigated.

"What I want from all of you right now is _cooperation_. This is a danger to us all. Report any suspicious activity, do not dismiss any little detail. We have to take this as an attack on the Village and be on our guard."

Faces were beginning to relax, brows smoothing out and lips unpursing. Tensions ebbed from shoulders and fists unclenched. Minato gave a speech-maker's pause, looking around himself and meeting the gaze of those who were watching him.

"The Uchiha Clan is strong," he said, in a slightly softer voice that implied a bond between him and his listeners, but still carried to all ears. "And Konoha stands with its Clan brothers and sisters. We will overcome this."

Some of them were nodding now. He could see Obito's mother, Kaede, wiping tears from her cheeks. Itachi was standing, still pale, with his mother's arm about his shoulders, but his posture was less defeated, his back straighter.

_:Good,: _Minato thought. _:They're listening.:_

He hoped they'd keep listening, because that night wasn't over yet. He drew in a deep breath. "Alright. Now. This calling the whole Clan together thing is not going to be very practical as the situation develops. I realize it is very soon to be asking, but it is something that we'll need to know. Who is going to Head the Uchiha?"


	66. Name

_TH: Interesting that so many of you want Mikoto to be Clan Head. Sorry, but that's not in the cards. Remember that the Mikoto of this story grew up in a strongly patriarchal Uchiha Clan. She's lived her whole life being subservient to the men of her family, and that's not something you can just shrug off (observe her struggle with helping Itachi go against the Clan's expectations). She wouldn't have the temperament to be a strong leader, and probably a fair number of the men in the clan wouldn't easily accept a sudden shift to a matriarchal system anyway. Not to sound like I'm hating on Mikoto (I did make her a strong Clan Head in a different fic), but she'd fail so hard, considering the way I've structured the Clan and shaped her character here._

_To my reviewer **Lori**: SHHHH! You're too good at guessing what's going to happen! :)_

_To my reviewer **Imperial Dragon **(a few chapters back): Kudos for being the only reviewer to catch my (too subtle?) hints at who was behind the incident!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-six**

**Theme:: Name**

* * *

Sakura was nearly climbing the walls with agitation by the time Minato finally got back. As soon as she heard the front door open, she was dancing from paw to paw in the foyer.

"Sasori," she declared as soon as she saw his face. Minato looked pale and haggard, tired bruises under his eyes, but Sakura couldn't take pity on him yet. This was important.

"What?" he said. His voice sounded as tired as his expression looked.

"Akasuna no Sasori," Sakura said. It wasn't impatience with his lack of understanding that made her twitch and dance around—it was her agitation with herself. The evidence was all right there—the poison, Fugaku's puppet-like behavior, and the fact that she knew Sasori was alive here and in Akatsuki. Apparently there was a difference between knowing and _knowing_. First she failed to recognize Sasori's poison even when it was coursing through her apprentice's veins. Then she failed to connect the dots with Sasori's chakra puppet-string technique and Itachi's report that his father was moving oddly. And she and Jiraiya had found Sasori to be a member of Akatsuki, yet she had _forgotten _that he was alive here.

There were excuses she could make, valid ones. She had been beyond shocked to be suddenly confronted with her apprentice, bloody and with an Exploding Tag of a reveal: 'I killed my father.' She—and Minato, really—had both been too fixated on the problem of Madara to remember that he had lackeys: the Akatsuki. And while she'd known this world's Sasori had been alive, a little part of her didn't believe it. She had, after all, killed him in her timeline, and then here she had not seen him nor any of his… handiwork. It hadn't clicked. There hadn't been anything to really make it real.

This had. It was very real now.

"I just spent the last four hours shut in a room with the entire Uchiha Clan and the Council. You're going to have to give me more than a name if you want any level of comprehension," Minato said wearily.

"Akasuna no Sasori," Sakura said again, fixing Minato with a grim gaze. "He is an ex-Suna shinobi now a member of Akatsuki. He's S-class because of his mastery of Suna puppetry techniques and poisons."

The light went on in Minato's eyes. "Itachi was poisoned, and Fugaku was puppeted."

Sakura nodded. "Madara was still likely the mastermind. But he is the leader of Akatsuki. He's employing his lackeys in his war against us now."

"Fantastic," Minato said, rubbing his eyes. "I wonder if this was a test. It was a little weak to be a full attack; it was so easily thwarted."

On some level, Sakura hated that he called it 'easy' but she knew what he meant. The Kyuubi Attack was difficult—it cost hundreds of lives and nearly cost the Village its Hokage. By comparison, this was nothing.

"I wondered the same thing," Sakura said. "It makes me nervous."

"Probably with good cause," Minato said. He sighed. "I'm crashing hard. I need to sleep."

As dismissals went, it was pretty blunt, but she could see his exhaustion. She nodded. "I promised Naruto to wake him up when you got back."

"I'll check in on him," Minato said. "Thanks."

* * *

_TH: What were the hints that it was Sasori? Itachi says that his father was 'moving oddly' when he found him in the forest (ch. 63).. perhaps because he was being twitched around on chakra strings, hmmm? He also says that he was poisoned but his father didn't use poison (ch. 63)... unlike a certain redheaded ex-Suna-nin. And then the last hint was word-choice in one of Sakura's thoughts- Fugaku was 'puppet'ed (ch. 64)... how frustrating for her that she even thought the word and didn't connect the dots until later. :)_


	67. Turn Away

_TH: Glibble glorrble glop._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-seven**

**Theme:: Turn Away**

* * *

However concerning the incident with Itachi was, and however worried they were for what Madara was planning, life had to continue. It had been two days and nothing more had happened—though Sakura always tagged on a 'yet' to that thought—and it was, in fact, time to start the new school year at the Academy. It was the first year of Sakura's new teaching position as well as the year that Sasuke and Naruto and the rest of the Rookie Nine (eight now, she supposed, considering that _she _was missing) began their training, though she wouldn't see them in her class until their third year. She was nervous. Lives literally depended on how well she taught her class, and with those young versions of all her friends taking their first steps down the path to ninja, she was hyper-aware of whose lives those might be.

Sakura stared out over the heads of her new class. The Academy students were in their last year, all about 12-13 years of age. About as old as she was when she started learning medical jutsu under Tsunade.

She was in her human form, to make it easier for her to write on the board and to demonstrate points to her class. Judging from the whispers and the looks, the kids recognized her even so. She supposed a fox-shaped kunoichi who sometimes looked like a pink-haired woman in a dramatic coat would be easily recognizable by description.

A glance at the clock told her that it was time to begin. She stepped forward, and the students fell silent.

"Medical jutsu will save your life," she said, scanning her students' faces, meetings a gaze for a moment before seeking the next. "Look to your left. Medical jutsu will save the life of your classmate sitting there. Look to your right. Medical jutsu will not be enough to save the life of your classmate sitting there."

The kids blinked at each other. Sakura turned away and stalked back to the desk at the focus of the ampitheatre-styled room. As she went, she spoke loudly and clearly, letting her voice bounce off the wall in front of her to the students behind her. "Medical jutsu is not magic. It is _science_. When you heal using medical jutsu, you are not magically adding skin to a wound to close it. You are not melding bone fragments together to mend a break. All you are doing is speeding up the body's natural healing capabilities, directing and partially fueling them with chakra."

She turned to face the class again. "Who here has been healed with medical jutsu? How did you feel afterwards?"

She ran her eyes over her class and waited, lifting a brow when nobody spoke. She kept waiting, until the awkwardness of the long silence prompted a student to hesitantly raise his hand. "Yes?"

"Um. I was really tired and hungry," he said, making it almost a question. Sakura nodded.

"Medical jutsu use a combination of the chakra of the medic-nin and the energy of the patient's body to heal wounds and treat sickness. It is common for patients to experience exhaustion and increased appetite after healing. An intensive healing may well leave a patient bed-ridden for a time while they replenish their body's reserves. Medical jutsu is not magic," she said. She took one deliberate, firm step toward the class. "If applied early enough, medical jutsu can save the life of a patient who would otherwise bleed to death from an open wound. But if you reach a patient who has been bleeding out and you only close the wound, your patient will die from bloodloss. All ninja carry blood-replenishing pills. Field medics carry kits for blood transfusions. There are medical jutsu for stopping internal hemorrhaging, mending broken bones, decreasing swelling, and healing organ trauma. But if you do not also treat the patient for the shock that such wounds cause, they may very well die anyway. A wound is not just a physical thing in one place on a body. A wound causes a physiological and chemical reaction in the body. A wound in one place can cause a systemic response that spreads through a body. Using a jutsu to close a wound does not heal the body of all the effects of that wound. Medical jutsu _is not magic_."

She paused, staring pointedly at the class, who looked maybe a little shellshocked at this blunt, grim delivery of a lesson. She kept staring, un-smiling, until she was sure it had sunk in. Then she relaxed her subtly offensive stance and the corner of her mouth quirked.

"That said, the first time you heal a patient and they walk away, whole and hale, it _is _almost a feeling of magic. In this class, you are not going to learn the advanced techniques they use in the hospital. You are not going to be medic-nin after this. What you _will _be is equipped to help keep your Teammates and yourself alive in the field, and knowledgeable of when they or you require the advanced techniques of the hospital."

The class breathed an inaudible sigh of relief—their teacher _wasn't_ an uncompromising dragon after all—and leaned forward with more enthusiasm as Sakura stepped to the board, chalk in hand. "You have all learned the map of the cardiovascular system in terms of where to aim a kunai. Today, you will learn how it works, the characteristics of veins and arteries, the composition of the blood that runs through them, the electrical impulses of the heart. To heal a thing, you must first understand what it is."


	68. Easy

_TH: **DID YOU MISS SATURDAY'S UPDATE?**_

_There seems to have been a bit of a breakdown in communication from ff net. I didn't get the usual emails that told me that I had added a new chapter, nor did I get notification when people reviewed. So I assume the breakdown went both ways, and those of you lovely readers who follow the story didn't ger notifications of a new chapter. So if you didn't read Saturday's chapter, go back!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-eight**

**Theme:: Easy**

After the incident with his father, Itachi had been placed in a holding cell at the _Konoha Keimu Butai_'s Headquearters. He would stay there until his trial, which was set for the fourth day after… it. He wasn't allowed visitors; fortunately, Sakura had a way around that.

His name was Shisui, and he had been elected the Uchiha Clan Head.

He was young, yes, but Itachi was younger yet…and if the circumstances in which they found themselves naming a new Clan Head hadn't involved Itachi killing his father, Sakura had no doubt they would have named Itachi, their prodigy, their leader. It wasn't like the Uchiha were unused to young Clan Heads; during the time of ceaseless war before the founding of the Hidden Villages, a great many of their leaders were young. It was why they'd created a council of elders to help the Head manage the Clan. The only requirements for the position, really, were to be strong, intelligent, and an Uchiha. Shisui was second only to Itachi in skill and intellect. He was the obvious choice.

He was a good kid, in Sakura's opinion. She believed he would be a worthy leader. And Itachi loved him like a brother, which was a stellar character reference, really. The Clan would benefit from his leadership.

And right now, Sakura would benefit from his power. As the Clan Head, Shisui could visit Itachi in the jail. In fact, it was his duty to do so. Which meant that Sakura could track Shisui down and ask him for the updates she couldn't get herself, being barred from seeing Itachi.

"Back again?" Shisui asked as soon as he felt Sakura's chakra signature edge closer. He was taking a rare break in one of the Clan Compound's gardens, standing on the elegant vermilion bridge that spanned the narrow koi pond. He was resting his elbows on the railing, slumping over in a posture that was more suited for a teenage ne'er-do-well than the Head of the illustrious Uchiha Clan.

"You know me," she replied, leaping up to the railing and pacing along it like a balance beam. She sat at his elbow. "How are you today?"

"Up to my ears in politics," he said dryly. "Working with the Clan Elders is like herding cats."

"Hate to break it to you, but that's not likely to change. Why do you think there are so many jokes about politicians?"

"Because the only good one is a dead one, but that's considered murder and is frowned upon in most cultures," Shisui muttered, just on the edge of Sakura's hearing. She held back a smile, knowing he didn't mean for her to hear it.

"But other than that, you're doing alright?" she asked. He blew out a sigh and nodded.

"As fine as I can be, all things considered," he replied.

"I'm glad," Sakura murmured. "This can't be easy for you."

"It could be worse," he said. Then the corner of his mouth twitched and he admitted: "It could be better, too."

"A-and, how's Itachi?" Sakura asked hesitantly. The slight smile vanished and Shisui frowned.

"He's acting like he _is _guilty of murder. I keep telling him that, from what we know, Fugaku-oji-sama might very well have been already dead, that it might have just been his body. I don't think that matters to Itachi."

"That boy," Sakura whispered, heart sinking. "I _knew _he was going to blame himself."

"It's what Itachi does best," Shisui said. "He'll martyr himself at the drop of a hat."

"_No_," Sakura snapped vehemently, visions of her timeline's battered, worn, hated, _martyred_ Itachi lingering in her mind. Shisui blinked at her, a little taken-aback at the strength of the denial. "No. I refuse to let Itachi's life be ruined by his good nature. He should be… he should…"

"I know, Sakura-sensei," the young Uchiha Head said, expression softening. "I know. I'll keep telling him."

* * *

**DID YOU MISS SATURDAY'S UPDATE?**


	69. Choose

_TH: __ I finally had the chance to watch Road to Ninja. It was fun, though rife with the usual problems that plague 'Anime: the Movie!'s. I will admit, however, that no matter how completely unnecessary the Akatsuki cameo was, I still squealed like the biggest fangirl when I saw Itachi. But seriously, their presence was completely unnecessary for the plot; they were literally just there because fans really like their characters. And then they just up and vanish, which left me all 'wtf? No! I want more! I demand more Itachi!' Also, the masked man's identity made no sense, not with the way they explained what the alternate world was. Eh. But... it was fun to see everyone's alternate characters. Pffft, Sasuke. :D_**  
**

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-nine**

**Theme:: Choose**

* * *

The trial came and went, and the obvious conclusion (Itachi acted in defence, pure and simple) was reached. Itachi was acquitted, and let go. Nobody blamed him. But that was fine, because he blamed himself enough to make up for the lack.

Itachi went into the jail already slender with the thinness of a boy on the edge of a growth spurt. When he was released after the trial, he was painfully skinny, his eyes sunken, skin pale. It was clear he was eating and sleeping poorly. Just looking at him made Sakura hurt.

What was worse was how he punished himself socially. He barely interacted with his mother, spoke to Shisui in his capacity of Clan Head but not as a friend, relied heavily on strict formality when with Sakura, and acted like a stone carving with Sasuke. It was obvious how this hurt the boy—Sasuke was told what had happened, explained as best as could be to a child, and understood that Itachi was part of reason his father wasn't ever coming home. But as much as Sasuke loved his father, he loved his brother more. Itachi was the one, after all, that spent time with him, the one to acknowledge his achievements, the one who went to his Academy induction ceremony. His father was a distant figure, if one Sasuke wanted approval from. It had taken Sasuke about two days to decide that it didn't matter that now he'd never get his father's approval, because he could have Itachi's, and that was enough.

But Itachi didn't want to be happy anymore. He'd done something that he believed made him unworthy of happiness, and so he was ostrasizing himself from the things that brought him joy.

Sakura was about at her wit's end. One day, she finally had enough of it.

"That. Is. IT." Her voice was a snarl so passionate that Itachi's blank mask of an expression cracked, and his eyes widened slightly. She _henge_'d, so that she could lend weight to her words by looming over Itachi in her human form, and so he could see her emotions more easily. "Uchiha Itachi! You are a twelve-year-old boy. You are _not a god_, so you will _stop acting like one_! You are not omniscient, you are not omnipotent, and _there was nothing you could do_."

Itachi's brows drew together. "Nothing I could do? _Nothing _was what I did. I stood by as my father killed my Teammates, because I hesitated to fight him. And then when he attacked me, I ended up killing him anyway. My Team died in vain, and I killed my father, who was only being controlled. If I had done something sooner, if I had been smarter or better, then maybe none of them would be dead!"

"You hesitated because you could tell something was off!" Sakura fired back. "You hesitated because it was your father and he was the head of a major clan! And your Teammates only jumped in after your father had attacked and poisoned you! They were protecting their Teammate and their medic, as was their duty!"

"He was my father! It was my duty!"

"Stop blaming yourself for the actions of others! Your Team _chose _to help you, just as you chose to investigate when you felt your father's chakra signature outside the Village. Your Team leader could have overruled you; you didn't order them there! They went because they were Konoha ninja and it was suspicious. When your father attacked you, what else could they have done but what they did?"

Itachi shook his head mutely.

"Do you think they should have just left you to it? Even though you'd been poisoned, and were fighting a man twice your size with at least twenty years' experience on you? He was your father, and you were emotionally compromised. And if you hadn't been, then you wouldn't be the person I took as my apprentice. You wouldn't be the Uchiha prodigy who became a medic-nin. You wouldn't be the person your Teammates leap to protect."

Itachi stared at his feet. Sakura gentled her voice. "You have survivor's guilt. It's common. Especially in those like you, who actually care about their Teammates. But, Itachi, this… this self-sacrificing attitude has to stop. You're hurting yourself. I can tell you aren't eating well or sleeping enough. The other people who care about you can also tell. And watching you hurt yourself is hurting us.

"Please, Itachi, go to one of ANBU's psychologists. They can help you cope with this."

A fine tremor ran through Itachi. "I…"

"Please, Itachi," Sakura said, wracking her brain for something she could say that would persuade him. She seized upon the one thing that she knew her timeline's Itachi cared most about. "Sasuke wants his brother back. Out of everyone, he understands the least why you've pulled so far away. He doesn't blame you. And he doesn't want to lose his brother along with his father."

There was a long silence in which Sakura prayed that she hadn't said anything that would make things worse, and that he'd listen to her. Finally, Itachi let out a shuddering sigh.

"Fine," he said quietly. "Fine, I will go."

Sakura grabbed him and embraced him tightly, and let him feel how she was shaking with relief. "Thank you," she whispered.


	70. Trouble

_TH: Ominous prompt for this chapter. Heh heh.**  
**_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Seventy**

**Theme:: Trouble**

* * *

Minato frowned at the view outside his windows, his sandaled feet tapping a steady thoughtful rhythm against the floor as he used them to swivel his chair back and forth. He idly span a pen between his fingers on one hand while the other cradled his chin, elbow propped on the chair's arm.

Three days after the incident resulting in Uchiha Fugaku's death, as soon as the Intelligence Department had confirmed the perpetrator to be Akasuna no Sasori (with ninety-two percent confidence), Minato had sent out a messanger hawk to Suna to inform them that their _nukenin _was active again, and to warn them that Madara could be moving on them through one of his other _nukenin _minions.

They'd received no reply from Suna, and the hawk had never returned. The same with the second hawk. It took, at most, two days for a hawk to fly to Suna and return with a message. It had been about two weeks since the first had been sent. Once three days had passed with no sign of the second hawk, Minato had sent a Jounin two-member espionage Team to investigate the situation in the foreign Village. It would take them around six days to go there and get back, and that wasn't counting any time it took them to get their information.

Minato scowled, and flicked his wrist. The pen in his hand flashed across the room like a senbon, impaling itself into a corkboard hung on the wall next to a set of shelves. It already had seventeen other pens in it, forming a nearly perfect replica of the Konoha swirled leaf emblem.

…He had been brooding over the matter for a while.

The problem was that there was no indication as to _why _the hawks were missing and no answers had come. Were they being intercepted, or was the Kazekage cutting ties with Konoha? Minato suspected the former was more likely, but didn't have any hard evidence. But operating on the assumption that the messages _were _being intercepted, a second question arose: Who was intercepting them? The most obvious culprit would be Akatsuki, but the Hidden Villages had more enemies than just that one group. It was also possible that some other entity was making a move on Suna.

Whatever the case, the situation was worrisome. There was really no way it could be anything but trouble—Konoha had lost contact with is only ally among the major Hidden Villages. Iwa was still bitter about the war, though they were more or less abiding by the terms of the last treaty. Kumo was quiet, although they didn't really have a definitive treaty with them, only an unspoken understanding. Kiri hadn't tried anything since that ill-fated attempt to inviltrate Konoha that Sakura and Itachi had thwarted, though they were still as militant and bloody as ever. Suna had been more or less the only Village with which Konoha had even a marginally good relationship. To be cut off from them…

Minato shook his head, standing up and going over to the windows that took up about the wall behind his desk. The Hokage Tower was one of the tallest buildings in the village, and from his top-floor vantage point, he could see clear to the main gates. He stared at the tiny—from this distance—doors with a grim set to his mouth.

He'd ordered the gate guards to be on high alert, and had doubled the patrols that ran the perimeter of the Village. Without more information, it was really all they could do.

There was a knock on his door, and he turned. "Enter."

His attention sharpened when the door opened to reveal a trio of battered, dusty, and gaunt-faced ninja—two Konoha and one—significantly more battered—Suna. His espionage Team, with a guest. They walked in with the tense motions of those who had spent too long looking over their shoulders for enemies in the shadows.

"Report," Minato said as soon as the door closed behind them. One of his ninja took a deep breath.

"Hokage-sama," she said. "Sunagakure is under attack."


	71. Writer's Choice-- Make It Double

_TH: I really couldn't resist the prompt, considering what the last chapter's was. :)**  
**_

_Oh, also: I'm aiming for 100 chapters total. Just, uh, FYI._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Seventy-one**

**Theme:: (Writer's Choice) Make It Double**

* * *

"Explain," Minato said, sitting down at his desk and steepling his fingers together.

"Sir," said the nominal spokesninja. "We reached the Fire-Wind border and waited for a Suna patrol to approach us, as is the usual protocol. But no patrol came. After we'd waited double the time prescribed, we ventured forward onto Suna territory under a banner of non-aggression. We were about halfway to Suna when we… intercepted Shikoshi Ran, Chuunin of Suna. He had been sent out by the Kazekage to deliver a message to you, Hokage-sama, and was being pursued by a group of Kiri ninja. We aided him."

Minato's grim gaze shifted to the Suna ninja. "Your message, Shikoshi-san?"

"Hokage-sama, I was to deliver news of Kiri's attack and ask for aid." The man's voice was raw with worry and exhaustion. "Suna is under siege, and we haven't the resources to withstand it. We would normally be able to drive them back, but they've got these… creatures with them."

Minato reflected silently that this Chuunin was clearly not a politically-inclined individual, because no politician would ever admit to the level of helplessness he just had.

"They… Some of them are human-shaped. Others," Shikoshi Ran swallowed visibly, "are not. And they are strong, and sometimes they don't stay dead. Hokage-sama, please. Suna invokes the agreement our two Villages made; send us aid."

Minato signaled for an ANBU, and one appeared almost immediately at his elbow. He told the Ox-masked ninja: "Get me Nara Shikaku. It's urgent."

The ANBU vanished, and Minato returned his gaze to the Suna ninja standing in front of his desk. "All of you, have a seat. Shikoshi-san, I will need you to tell me everything, but we'll wait until my Jounin Commander arrives. In the meantime…" Minato pulled a cord hanging down the wall near his desk "…I've ordered for some food and drink to be brought up. You all seem to have had a hard journey, and if I'm going to to be asking you to stay here for the rest of the day, I think you'll need it."

The ninja looked pitifully grateful.

The food arrived about the same time Shikaku did, and they wasted no time in getting down to business.

As the Jounin Commander and a tactical genius, it was important for Shikaku to hear the situation himself, in full, as Minato did. He spent the time that Shikoshi Ran took to explain the full events in Suna with his eyes closed and a thoughtful frown turning down the corners of his mouth. Once the Suna Chuunin had finished, he opened his eyes and met Minato's gaze.

"How many do we have on active service right now?" Minato asked him. The title 'Jounin Coommander' was something of a misnomer, as the position was more involved with coordinating all of Konoha's ninja, not just those of Jounin rank. Every day, Shikaki received a report on the status of Konoha's ranks. He knew how many ninja were off duty from injuries, how many were on leave, how many were out of Village on missions, and how many were on active duty but idle.

"About two thousand in-Village right now," Shikaku replied. "And about seventy who are walking injured."

Minato nodded. "We will want to move quickly. Kiri has been quiescent for the last couple of years, but it seems that Madara has not yet abandoned his rule of it. He will be aiming to crush Suna as quickly as he can—divide and conquer. He wants us without ally. But we won't let that happen."

"You want to march on his army and break them between our forces and the walls of Suna," Shikaku murmured. "Not a bad plan. Do we use the Grand Seal for the Village?"

"Yes. We will leave two hundred ninja… no, make it double that," Minato corrected himself as he thought quickly "…Four hundred, including the walking wounded, will stay here, to give the civilians some comfort. But the Grand Seal should take care of any defenses."

He looked at Ran. "Shikoshi-san, you are welcome to rest and resupply yourself, and to march with us when we mobilize. Shikaku, begin organizing the forces. We will leave in twenty-four hours."

He stood. "You're all dismissed. We have work to do."


	72. Mountains

_TH: I think once my exams were finished, my immune system went 'oh good, now we get a vacation' and shut off. Bleagh. Forgive any errors in this chapter (actually, point them out. If they add to a gross number, I'll edit and repost the chapter)._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Seventy-two**

**Theme:: Mountains**

* * *

Sakura sat near the gates of Konoha, watching the seemingly endless procession of carts and people marching out. Among them were carts full of medical equipment, and the poles and tarps they'd need to set up their Mobile Medical Unit. Sakura and thirty-three other medical ninja—seven full medic-nin and their top apprentices and nurses—were going along with their fighting force, to provide support behind the line as Konoha's forces came at Kiri's soldiers from the back.

The last of the medical carts rolled by, and Itachi jumped nimbly down from it to join Sakura off to the side. "Sakura-sensei, Tokunaga-sensei says that everything is in order. You can report to the Hokage that the medics are good to go."

ANBU's psychologists were good; after the first meeting with Itachi, they'd taken him off the missions roster, but left provisions that he could still work as a medic in the hospital, provided he work partnered to another medic. It had at least started to heal Sakura's apprentice. She hoped this war wouldn't undo all of that, but at least Itachi would be away from the majority of the fighting—he was one of Sakura's medical Team and would stay with the Mobile Medical Unit.

"Thank you," she said. "Go join the rest of our Team in our cart. I'll be a moment."

Itachi inclined his head in a half bow, and went. Sakura went over to the Hokage, who were overseeing the last of the carts exiting the gate. Sarutobi stood next to Minato; the Third had, up till now, been comfortably retired, staying out of the way of the competent Fourth. With Minato leading the war party, the Third had graciously stepped out of retirement to help lead the guardian force that would stay behind in the Village.

"Yondaime Hokage-sama," she said. "The medics all report ready."

Minato nodded. "Thank you, Sakura." He turned to Sarutobi. "That'll be the last of it. It's time."

The former Hokage nodded solemnly, his pipe clenched between his teeth. "I'll wish you luck, then. May this war come to a swift end."

"And hopefully in our favor," quipped Minato dryly, but he smiled and bowed to his predecessor. "Thank you. I'll pray for the Village's safety while we're gone. We're taking most of the fighting force with us, and that makes me uncomfortable."

"The Grand Seal should keep us safe," assured Sarutobi. The reminder did little to wipe the crease between Minato's brows away.

"Yes, but…" he murmured, gazing at the Village with a distant look. Sakrua could understand how he felt. Conceptually, she knew how powerful the Grand Seal was supposed to be—it was a complex mixture of _fuuinjutsu _and _genjutsu_ than nobody since its creators understood fully. It was believed that the Seal Masters of Uzushiogakure created it, when they were tightly allied with Konoha, before their Village fell. But they'd designed it specifically so that it required four people to activate—two Uchiha with Sharingan, and two Senju. In Sakura's other timeline, it obviously had not been possible to activate it during most of her life, so she knew little about it beyond theory.

Minato could possibly have witnessed its use, during the Third Shinobi War, but it was equally possible that it hadn't been judged necessary for the Grand Seal to be used. So he might be operating under the same knowledge-of-theory-unknown-application limitation as Sakura.

Even so, they had two choices, to leave Suna to its fate, or to honor their treaty and go to their aid. Of course they chose the latter. So that essentially made it necessary to utilize the Grand Seal and hope that it worked as well in practice as it did on paper.

Sakura moved back to a safe distance with Minato, but remained as close as she could to watch the Grand Seal activate. Apparently, the sealing array required had been worked into the periphery of Konoha (Sakura suspected it was set into the wall surrounding the Village, or perhaps etched into the bedrock below their feet), because the four individuals needed to the sealing—two Uchiha and two ninja who were not Senju in name but were in blood—simply clasped their hands into seals and began without drawing out anything. Sarutobi stood a little way behind them, just inside Konoha's gate.

One member of each founding clan stood on the 'inside' of the Grand Seal, and one of each stood on the outside. Sakura felt the stirring of chakra, and the jump of energy that signaled a seal taking. And then, before her very eyes, the image of Konoha wavered, shimmered, and was gone. She cautiously stepped forward, her ears pricking forward in amazement.

The illusion was perfect in everyway, and the sealing wards made it tactile as well. The two ninja who had activated the Seal from inside were gone, as was Sarutobi, and the gates, and any footprint or smell or sound or other sign that there had once been a Village in this place. All that she could see, hear, and smell were trees. Even the Hokage Mountain had disappeared!

"Konohagakure no Sato," she said, with humor. They truly were the Village Hidden in the Leaves. With the Grand Seal, the Village was shut off. Nobody could get in; nobody could find it. The people inside experienced no difference—they could see out of the Seal, and could cross the boundary…

Seeing the Village vanish under _genjutsu _and _fuuinjutsu _made Sakura feel a bit better, and seeing Minato's expression lose some of its tension, she thought it reassured him, too.

They turned away from their home, and marched toward war.


	73. Flat

_TH: Nothing important to say._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Seventy-three**

**Theme:: Flat**

* * *

About halfway through their journey, when the forests of Fire Country tapered out first into the sparse grasslands and then into the vast sandy desert of Wind Country, they noticed a blemish far off on the horizon. It was easier to see distant objects in the desert because of the flat, unobstructed view, but this was so far away—rising from somewhere beyond the horizon—that it must have been breath-takingly huge.

The sight tightened Sakura's gut into a hard knot of nerves. The massive plume of smoke was more than likely a marker for the location of Sunagakure no Sato, caused by the fighting taking place outside the Village's walls. Was it from something the enemy did? Or was it something from Suna?

…Or something from Gaara? How old was he, anyway? If Sakura remembered correctly, he was a little bit younger than Naruto, so around five? So young, but still a Jinchuuriki. It was entirely possible his father the Kazekage would try to utilize him in this war. The plume billowing up from the distance could have been caused by the Ichibi.

Sakura wondered if he had snapped yet. She remembered vaguely that there had been some event in his life that had caused him to etch the kanji for love into his forehead, that had caused him to decide that if Suna wanted a monster, they would get a monster. But she didn't know what that event was, or when it had occurred. She'd been mostly unconscious when her Naruto had slammed Gaara with his '_therapy no jutsu_', and had only gotten a fragmented explanation secondhand from her blond Teammate later. She didn't know all of Gaara's story, and she didn't even know enough to know whether this timeline's Gaara would differ from her timeline's at all.

In a way, she hoped that she wouldn't see Gaara. Because if she did see him, and he needed to be saved… she would want to figure out a way to do so. And if she couldn't, for whatever reason, she would carry the guilt of it forever.


	74. Closing In

_TH: Friggin' frak I want to not be sick anymore._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Seventy-four**

**Theme:: Closing In**

* * *

Minato waited with ill concealed impatience as one of his ninja Teams scouted ahead over the last dune separating the Konoha army from Sunagakure no Sato. They couldn't just charge in willy-nilly to a war; they needed to know the situation before they engaged.

The Hokage tongued the tip of one of his canines thoughtfully, watching his scouts tuck away their binoculars and begin to carefully crawl backwards from the crest of the dune until it was safe for them to stand upright. Once they could, they skated down the side of the dune, half running, half riding the shifting sand.

"Hokage-sama," one said as soon as they'd reached him. "The gates of Suna are closed, though there is fighting taking place at them. The remains of a great fire smoulder along the wall… I believe the attackers had tried to use it as a smoke screen to hide their attempts to break down the door."

"Who fights?" Minato asked.

"Most of the army wears Oto _hitai-ate_. I saw two with black cloaks with red clouds on them. And against them are some Suna ninja who seem to have a _kekkei genkai_. They… use wind jutsu in a way I've never seen before."

"How many?"

"Nine, I believe, sir."

"Nine against an army…." Minato muttered. "I wonder if that's arrogance or efficiency?"

"Hokage-sama," the scout hesitated, "there were many Suna bodies on the sands."

Minato paused. "I see." He thinks for a minute, scenarios and strategies running through his head at double-time. "Alright," he said slowly, at length, "here are my orders…"

* * *

The ninja of Suna had been fighting on and off for nearly a month, trapped in their Village with their enemy at their doorstep. There were wells in Suna that would keep them well-watered, at least, but cut off as they were from the outside, they would run out of their food stores and starve in about two weeks. It was one reason why nobody particularly minded it when the Kazekage sent them out to engage the enemy. It was better to die trying to do something about their situation than to slowly starve to death hiding behind their walls.

They had watched messanger hawks—approaching from the direction of Konoha—be shot from the air by their enemy, their hopes literally falling from the sky. They watched as the messangers they tried to sneak out be dumped as corpses in front of their gates.

They didn't know that one had made it through, had survived what had killed his Teammates and had met up with a recon Team from Konoha, to deliver the Kazekage's message to the Hokage. They didn't know reinforcements were closing in, not until a conch shell horn sounded and the army of Konoha came pouring over the dunes.

There was shock, and then a ragged cheer rose from atop the wall of Suna. Their allies had come! Perhaps they would survive this after all.


	75. Searching

_TH: Nothing much to say._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Seventy-five**

**Theme:: Searching**

* * *

Minato surveyed the battlefield briefly from the crest of the sand dune, taking note of their enemies and their allies. The walls of Suna were feats of earth jutsu, great stone cliffs that rose in jagged peaks to encircle the Village, and Suna ninja lined them, ready and able to send a variety of projectile weapons singing down into the horde of Oto-nin. The main gate looked a little battered, but still stood—Minato would put money on Suna having shored it up from the inside. The Suna nin fighting outside the gate seemed to be all from the same Clan. Minato could see why his scout had thought they fought with _kekkei genkai_; they were using wind jutsu to launch themselves into the air, to loft above the Oto-nin like birds on wing.

He wondered if the _kekkei genkai _gave them hollow bones like birds—it seemed most likely, to judge by their clothing (which had cloth webbing between the arms and torso) and the easy way the wind kept them aloft. And a quick glance at the dead Suna ninja revealed that each body had at least a couple badly broken bones. Hollow bones were light enough for flight, but fragile. It would explain why most of their offensive attacks were ranged, and why they seemed to avoid melee.

Minato's eyes slid next to the enemy his ninja were now clashing against. His lip curled slightly, recognizing Orochimaru's twisted mind behind the misshapen creatures that studded the Oto forces like weevils in grain. Many of the Oto ninja looked normal, but every so often there was a four-armed man, or a woman whose nails were like claws and whose mouth was a circular maw of saw-blade teeth.

…And there were the two Akatsuki members. One seemed to be wearing a mask over the lower portion of his face, and the other looked like he'd had a bucket of blue paint spilt all over him.

Minato's eyes narrowed. He'd take care of them, but first he'd have to get closer. Minato's hand slid smoothly into the kunai pouch at his hip, drawing out one of his infamous trident kunai. As he flipped it in his hand, he felt what Kushina had always called his 'battle ice' creep over his soul. He knew, because she'd described it once, that his expression was going blank and dangerous, and that his eyes were going pale and sharp. He lifted his hand and hurled the kunai as far as he could, as high as he could. Since he was standing on a dune above the battle, this brought it to a point high over the heads of the enemy, and some distance from the periphery of the fighting.

Minato used _Hiraishin _to flash to the kunai, and snatched it as he hung suspended in the air for a split second before gravity kicked in. In that split second before he started to fall, Minato whipped the kunai down, and followed it with another _Hiraishin_. The Oto creature below him never even saw him coming.

His technique popped him into the air right above the thing, and he slammed feet-first into the luckless creature (its skin was half scales and half open sores), feeling it crumple under him as the force of his impact snapped its bones under his sandals in a series of rapid cracks and pops. It was dead before Minato's feet even touched the ground.

Minato shared a rather feral grin with a Suna-nin nearby, and then flashed away in another _Hiraishin_. Over the din of the battle around him, he heard the muted sound of the gates opening—the Kazekage was sending out a fresh wave.

A few _Hiraishin_, Exploding Tags, and gouts of arterial blood, and Minato was on his way through the fight, searching for the Akatsuki members he'd seen earlier.


	76. By My Side

_TH: Derp-a-derp, nothing to say._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Seventy-six**

**Theme:: By My Side**

* * *

The Mobile Medical Unit set up its field hospital some distance from the battleground—not too far that it was difficult to get wounded from the fighting to them, but not too close as to be dangerous. They also retained twenty-five ANBU operatives to help guard the hospital against enemies.

For a while, there were no wounded, as the army covered the distance between the MMU and Suna. It wasn't too long after Sakura calculated that the fighting would start that they started getting wounded in. The medics were divided into teams, as ever, though each had more than three or four members, and each team had its own tent. Each tent had a specific type of injury they specialized in, and all were very well versed in general practice. Sakura's team took care of all poisoning cases, as well as taking care of their share of general injuries—broken bones, gashes, etc.

She was seeing a lot of poisons in which she recognized Orochimaru's hand, which made sense because the enemy army was largely comprised of Sound nin. It was a bit of a relief, if truth be told, as Orochimaru wasn't nearly as adept at poisons as Sasori. Sakura had feared that the enemy would be armed with Sasori's poisons, but it seemed that even though Sasori was a part of Akatsuki, he was too prideful to share his creations.

"I need a vial of NS4R," Sakura told the young apprentice by her side, one of two that had been assigned to her team as go-fers. The kid nodded and hustled to the ice chests where they were keeping all the antidotes and medicines that needed to be kept cold until use, as Sakura ran a practiced eye over the wounds on her patient's arms.

"These aren't bad enough to warrant chakra healing," she told the shinobi, "so I'll have one of my medics bind them up for you. Shiori, please take over here."

The other medic scrubbed her hands quickly at one of the sinks at the center of the tent, and came over.

"Please clean and bind these wounds, and when Kenta brings up the vial of NS4R, dose him," Sakura instructed her. Shiori nodded and went to it without pause.

Since this was a wartime situation, Sakura didn't want to waste her chakra on the _henge _that would have allowed her to do those things herself. Her duties were largely diagnosis, chakra healing, and using her chakra extraction technique on some of the worst poisoning cases.

As she lifted her head to look for her next patient, Sakura spared a moment to glance around for Itachi. She found him splinting a Suna ninja's arm—since they were allies, ninja from both sides were being seen to by both sides' medics. But considering the situation, it was easier for those fighting outside the Village's gates to come to Konoha's MMU. There were a few Suna nin in their camp, being treated for a myriad of wounds.

It somewhat surprised Sakura, the amount of trust between Suna and Konoha in this timeline. This kind of thing—Suna nin allowing Konoha medics to treat them—would never have happened in her time, as least not until after Gaara had worked his Kazekage magic.

There didn't seem to be any new patients at the moment, so Sakura blew a sigh and made a round around the tent, checking on the members of her team and their patients. She was just assisting one of her newer medics with a diagnosis of a non-responsive patient when there was a slight commotion at the tent's entrance. Sakura froze as she heard a voice that managed to be familiar even though it was higher and more emotive than she'd ever heard it. "Somebody, please! Help!"

And Sakura turned to see a tiny child Gaara supporting a bloody and equally young Kankuro.


	77. Immortal

_TH: Couple notes at the end._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Seventy-seven**

**Theme:: Immortal**

* * *

Minato found one of the Akatsuki—the blue one had disappeared into the fray—observing the battle at the far edge of the battlefield. He was cloaked and masked and cowled. Nearly all of him was covered; only a band of skin around his unusually-colored eyes was left bare. He had a slashed Taki _hitai-ate_.

_:Kakuzu,: _Minato thought, recognizing him from the reports Sakura and Jiraiya had compiled.

Minato threw one of his trident kunai into the ground at Kakuzu's feet, but didn't flash to it. Instead, he let it act to draw the _nukenin_'s attention. The ex-Taki ninja's strange green-red eyes lifted slowly to pin Minato with an emotionless stare. Then, just as slowly, he lifted his arms, his sleeves sliding back to reveal his hands, which he clasped together in a seal.

"The Hokage himself has come to stop us," he observed in a deep voice, chakra gathering in his hands. His head tilted ever so slightly. "Iwa, I believe, will be willing to pay a great sum for your corpse."

Minato lifted an eyebrow and dropped into a crouch. He didn't think he wanted to let Kakuzu finish whatever jutsu he was starting. "You have to fight me before you kill me."

"This won't take long," said Kakuzu.

"_Hiraishin_! _Rasentsurugi_!" Minato flashed to the kunai he's left in the ground in front of Kakuzu and lunged forward, putting his whole body behind the attack. Kakuzu choked, his eyes widening. "Pride comes before the fall. But you're right, this won't take long at all."

"You…" Kakuzu growled over the high-pitched whistling of the blade-shaped Fuuton technique Minato had stabbed through his chest. Minato withdrew his _Rasentsurugi _and skipped backwards a couple meters.

"One down, four to go," Minato said, and gave a small, dangerous smile when Kakuzu's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I do know about your 'immortality'. The hearts you keep stored so that a fatal wound is not so fatal after all. But once you run out of hearts…"

"And you were talking about pride before?" Kakuzu said. He straightened up from his slight hunch, unzipping his cloak. "Let me show you the difference between a child's empty pride, and the confidence born from decades of life."

Minato watched as the _nukenin_'s four masks—his surplus hearts hidden behind them—separated from his body, trailing masses of grey threads. One was broken, and the thread creature that formed from it shuddered and collapsed almost immediately. He looked at the other three—by the design and colors of them, they were the lightning, earth, and wind.

Luck was with him; he'd destroyed the one mask which had the affinity he was weakest against. That would make this fight a little easier.

He reached to one of the breast pockets of his flak jacket and thumbed the snap open, pulling out a thin sealing scroll. Easier, but not _easy_. This would effectively be a four-on-one fight, and Minato's Fuuton technique would only be effective against one or two.

Fortunately, the Yondaime Hokage was no one-trick pony. He unfurled the scroll with a flick of his wrist, pressed his chakra into the seal inked onto it, and threw it in the air: "_Katon: Wanryuudou_!"

A massive wheel of flames erupted from the scroll and blazed toward the wind-mask creature. Minato juked the other way, and sped toward the earth-mask, a variation of Kakashi's _Chidori _crackling in his palm.

* * *

_Okie-dokie. Just a few things._**  
**

_1- rasentsurugi. Basically I thought that, if Minato had lived like he did in this fic, he would have created variations of his rasengan (Naruto did). But I didn't think he would necessarily make the same one(s) that Naruto did in canon. So I had him make a version of rasengan that took the shape of a sword._

_2- Wanryuudou is a mythological creature. A wagon wheel that's on fire. It also is depicted with an old man's face in the middle of the spokes, but for this technique, it's just a wheel of flame._

_3- chidori. The idea of a Hokage that only uses one type of elemental chakra seems counterintuitive to me, because kage are supposed to be really powerful and blah blah blah. With Kakashi as his student, I kind of thought that Minato would learn chidori if he had the chance. It just seemed right._

_4- I just rewatched the episodes of team ten versus Hidan and Kakuzu. Shikamaru is awesome. Just letting that be known._


	78. Tender

_TH: Man of Steel was pretty entertaining, but I couldn't keep a straight face when Zod showed up with a quintessential Evil Beard. Also: the Kryptonian ships looked very much like Reapers from Mass Effect..._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Seventy-eight**

**Theme:: Tender**

* * *

For a moment, Sakura was frozen with shock. Gaara was so… so _tiny_, and he didn't have his forehead kanji, or his sand gourd. And he looked like he was going to cry. The blood spattered on his face was the only thing familiar about his appearance.

Kankurou coughed weakly from his slumped position, and Sakura jerked into action. "Itachi! On me!"

She _henge_'d quickly, approaching Gaara and Kankurou slowly, her hands extended before her. "Don't worry, I'm the ranking medic in this tent, and the young man is my apprentice. We'll help your brother."

She and Itachi levered Kankurou's weight off of Gaara's shoulders, and lifted the six-or-seven year old onto a cot. A quick examination was enough for Sakrua to identify the poison Kankurou had been hit with. "Itachi, I'm going to leave you in charge of his treatment. Keep an eye out for symptoms of tissue necrosis. The poisoning is still in its early stages, but Barrow Rot can be tricky like that."

"Got it, sensei," he replied without hesitation, his hands competently moving through the treatment prodecure. Sakura nodded and stepped back, watching a half moment before turning to look what had become of Gaara.

She found him shyly curling in on himself in front of one of Sakura's nurses. Sakura went over, touched the nurse on the shoulder and smiled at her, before crouching down to Gaara's level.

"Hello, Gaara-kun," she said gently as the nurse left. "Your brother will be alright. But can you tell me if you are hurt anywhere?"

Gaara shook his head, his jade-colored eyes large in his child's face. "How do you know who we are?"

"I'd be a poor ninja if I couldn't recognize the children of our allies' leader," Sakura said. It wasn't quite an answer, so it wasn't a lie, but he would hear it as an answer. She held out her hands to him. "Here."

Gaara blinked and looked at her outstretched hands like he'd never seen anything like them before. She wiggled her fingers, and smiled at him when he looked up at her face. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up a little."

At the reminder, Gaara looked at his crimson-streaked hands and back to her, his eyes growing wider. "It isn't mine!"

"I know," she said softly. "I know, but let's get it washed off, alright?"

Chibi-Gaara nodded miserably, and let her lead him to an empty cot by the sinks. Sakura sat him down and wetted down a cloth. Crouching in front of him, she used slow and deliberate movements as she lifted the cloth to his face. She knew that anything faster than a slow crawl would cause the sand barriers to come up around the boy.

With the edge of the damp cloth, she tenderly wiped away the smudge of blood that arced over his left eyebrow, tilting his face up to her with a very gentle touch at his chin. He watched her unblinkingly, and the nervous sort of wonder in the gaze made her wonder what stage of his life he was at. Was this before his uncle had begun to show him love? Was it before his father had started in earnest to kill him? Certainly it seemed obvious that he already was starved for affection; he was drinking in her care with a hesitant hope.

Sakura worked in silence for a little while before she asked: "What were children doing in battle, anyway? I can't believe that you have even begun ninja training, let alone become a Genin."

"Kankurou is learning to use puppets," Gaara said. "And Temari is really good at _tessenjutsu_. Baki-sensei said that they were Suna ninja even if they didn't have their _hitai-ate _yet, and that we needed every ninja to help the Village."

"What about you?" Sakura asked, cleaning the blood off one of his hands. He tensed a little, and that was all the warning she got before a sheet of sand leapt up between them. Sakura fell back.

The sand fell away amost immediately, and Gaara looked terrified. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

"Sensei?" Itachi's voice broke in. Sakura looked up into Itachi's wary face.

"I'm fine," she told him. She turned to Gaara. "It's alright, Gaara-kun. I'm fine."

She paused, then smiled. "You may be young, but you're certainly strong, aren't you?"

He still looked distraught, so Sakura rolled back to her feet and sat down next to him on the cot. "Really, it's fine, Gaara-kun. I'm not angry."

He tucked his chin down to his chest and mumbled something. Sakura leaned closer. "What?"

"B-but now you'll be scared of me like everyone else," he said.

"I'm not scared of you," she told him truthfully. If this had been her timeline's Gaara, it might have been a lie, but this little child, lonely and unbroken, could not scare her. "You kind of remind me of someone I once knew. He was lonely, and everyone was afraid of him, but he was nice and funny and I cared about him very much. He was my best friend."

"Really?" Gaara asked. Sakura nodded.

"Yes. Do you want to be my friend, too?"

Gaara stared at her, and it took everything she had not to reach out to pinch his adorable little cheeks. "Can I?"

"Of course," Sakura replied, smiling.


	79. Electrify

_TH: I'm not going to be internet-capable tomorrow, so here's the next chapter early!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Seventy-nine**

**Theme:: Electrify**

* * *

When Sakura dropped her _henge _and returned to her four-footed form, Gaara's eyes went huge and round and he sucked in a quick breath. "You're a fox!"

Sakura winked at him, but trotted away as one of her medics called for her. When she got back around to checking in on the little redhead, he had a very solemn expression on his face.

"Are you the Kyuubi?" he asked, and Sakura nearly choked on her own spit.

"What? No. Where did that come from?" she sputtered.

"Then… are you the Jinchuuriki?" Gaara asked, green eyes guileless. Sakura's mouth fell open.

"No," she said after a brief pause. Then, slowly: "Why do you ask?"

Gaara's eyes fell away from her face. "I dunno."

Sakura glanced around surreptitiously, then cosied up closer to Gaara's knees. "I know you hold the Ichibi—" Gaara looked at her with fear stark on his face "—I'm just surprised that _you _know."

Gaara shrank down into himself. Sakura mentally cursed out everyone who'd ever mistreated the kid, and _henge_'d again so that she could slowly and carefully ease her arms around him. His sand barrier didn't spring up to force her away, so she must have been careful enough. "Gaara-kun, I don't care. You're not a monster. I've known other Jinchuuriki, and they weren't monsters either."

"Everyone says I am," he said. "They don't know I can hear them whispering, but I can."

"Well, they're wrong," Sakura said firmly. "Trust me."

Gaara hesitated before nodding, and that hesitation nearly broke Sakura's heart. A five year old child shouldn't have to be so wary.

"But sometimes I hurt people and I can't help it," he said. Sakura knew his history—it was why she was careful with the way she moved around him. And she had seen the sand respond when he'd gotten nervous earlier.

Thinking about it, that was probably why they'd sent out such a young, untrained boy to the battlefield. He didn't need to be trained. If they presented him as a target for the enemy, the enemy would attack, Gaara's sand would respond automatically, and the enemies would be eliminated. And if one of the enemy got around the 'ultimate defense', well then, that would save some Suna assassins the trouble, wouldn't it?

Sakura felt bile rise in her throat at the realization. She just wanted to grab the adorable chubby-cheeked child and steal him away from this whole furball of a life.

But the Kazekage would probably suddenly grow attached to his youngest son and create an international incident if a Konoha nin stole away Gaara. He was, after all, a Jinchuuriki. No Village would give one up, not even one that was labeled as a failed experiment.

"That isn't you, Gaara," she said. At least this timeline's Gaara didn't think the voice he was hearing in his head was his mother… or at least, he didn't yet. Sakura wasn't sure when that particular psychosis had cropped up in her timeline's Gaara, before or after his mental break and the self-branding of his forehead. "That's the Ichibi. He's a very angry creature, and he's trying to hurt you and everyone around you. But you don't have to let him."

"But I don't know how to stop him," Gaara said.

This was her chance, Sakrua realized. But it didn't electrify her as she'd thought it would. She wasn't ready to jump in and save the day. She didn't know what seal had been used on Gaara. She didn't know how to alter it. She could slap a second seal over whatever one already existed, but seals were tricky things and using the precisely right one was important. Or else it would fail, or twist the existing one, or disrupt it… Too many variables and not enough time to research them.


	80. Meant no Harm

_TH: Enjoy._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Eighty**

**Theme:: Meant no Harm**

* * *

Minato staggered away from his fight with Kakuzu, the winner, but injured. He pressed his left palm to his right arm's bicep, trying to keep pressure on the deep gash even as his hand was slicked with blood.

"Sensei," Kakashi appeared suddenly by his side. His mismatched eyes—he'd uncovered the Sharingan—caught on Minato's wound, but Kakashi reported calmly: "Both the Akatsuki members that were here are dead. The remaining enemies are scattering and running, without their leaders to keep them ordered."

Minato paused. He'd taken care of Kakuzu, but… "Hoshigaki Kisame?"

"I took care of him, sensei, with the help of Ino-Shika-Cho," Kakashi replied.

"Good," Minato said, wincing as he took his first good look at his arm wound. It was bleeding messily, but thankfully it hadn't cut any tendons, and the muscles weren't severed, only damaged. It wouldn't take a medic very long to fix it, provided they could spare the chakra.

"Hokage-sama," a Suna ninja approach respectfully. "The Kazekage requests to speak with you."

Minato turned to the Jounin. He was tall and solidly built, with a cloth obscuring half his face. Minato shrugged his injured arm very slightly to bring the man's attention to it. "I'm afraid I will have to make the Kazekage wait a moment; I will need this seen to."

"Of course, Hokage-sama," said the man. "I'll send a message ahead, and accompany you so that I may guide you when you are ready."

"Very well," Minato agreed. "Your name, Suna-nin?"

"I am Baki, Hokage-sama," he replied. Minato nodded. He looked to Kakashi.

"Kakashi, organize five squads to follow the retreating enemies at a safe distance. Make sure they don't circle around and attack us just as we think they're gone. Also, I'll be taking five more squads with me to increase the defense of the medical unit. In case they decide to take a stab at us there."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kakashi replied, falling into more formal speech in front of the foreign ninja. Minato nodded to him in dismissal, then turned back to Baki.

"If you'll follow me, Baki-san…"

* * *

Minato ducked into the first medical tent he came across in the Mobile Medical Unit. It just so happened that it was the poisons tent, where Sakura and Itachi were assigned. And it just so happened that the Kazekage's two sons were in the tent as well, as Minato quickly learned.

When he ducked in, he looked for Sakura right away, and found her, _henge_'d, sitting with a small red-haired boy in the corner. He was going to go over to her, but was arrested momentarily when someone exclaimed: "Baki-sensei?"

His escort turned his face so the uncovered half pointed toward the cry. "Kankurou?"

Baki walked over to a cot where a young boy was resting. Minato saw Itachi make his way over, too. "Excuse me? I am the attending on Kankurou-san's case. Are you his… teamleader?"

"Yes," Baki replied. "I sent two of my young team members here when one of them was injured. What is his status, and where is the boy who came with him?"

By now, Sakura had noticed the events and she and the boy—who, Minato suspected, was the boy Baki was looking for—were heading over.

"Kankurou-san is stable, and he can be returned to your Village without fear of a relapse," Itachi was telling Baki.

"And we had to clean Gaara-kun here up a bit, as he came to us rather bloodied," Sakura said calmly as she inserted herself in the conversation. Baki looked at her, his visible eye going to Sakura and Gaara's joined hands. Minato thought he looked surprised and wary at the sight.

"Baki-san," Minato cut in, "this is Sakura, our _Hanagitsune_. She is one of our top medics, and Itachi-san is her apprentice. Sakura, Itachi, this is Baki, a Jounin of Suna."

"Baki-san," Sakura said, bowing carefully. From behind the shield of her body, she flashed some hand signs at Minato, and he had to try very hard not to react outwardly.

_:Gaara is the Ichibi Jinchuuriki? And his seal is unstable?: _Minato felt a bit like sighing and rubbing his temples. This _would _drop into his lap now, wouldn't it? He gave Sakura a hidden scowl as she flashed a few more signs, indicating she wanted him to do something to strengthen Gaara's weak seal. _:Easier said than done. This is Suna's Jinchuuriki, and not only that, but the Kazekage's son. I can't just go tinkering with his seal.:_

"Gaara," Baki said, disapproval in his voice. Gaara made a tiny move like he wanted to hide behind Sakura, but, hesitantly, he let go of her hand and stepped toward the Suna Jounin. Sakura gave him a warm smile when he glanced back.

"Goodbye, Gaara-kun," she said. "I am very glad to have met you."

"Thank you for being my friend," Gaara told her solemnly. When he reached Baki, the shinobi edged in slightly to block the two. He clearly didn't trust Sakura to be around the boy.

_:Oh yes,: _Minato thought dryly, _:working on Suna's Jinchuuriki's seal is going to be a cinch. I'll never be able to convince them I mean no harm!:_

But, Minato had the feeling—as he watched the byplay between Sakura and Gaara, and Gaara and Kankurou and Baki—that he would probably end up making the attempt anyway. If the people of Konoha looked at Naruto like that… with that fear and that… well, it almost seemed as if they didn't think there _was _a Gaara, only the Ichibi… If people in Konoha had treated Naruto like that, Minato would have snapped.

He heaved a mental sigh.


	81. Heartfelt

_TH: Enjoy._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Eighty-one**

**Theme:: Heartfelt**

* * *

"Was the Kazekage injured?" Minato asked as Baki lead him through the streets of Suna, but not in the direction of the Kazekage's office. The hospital loomed before them.

"Yes," Baki said quietly. "He led the first four waves to try to break the siege, but was injured in his fight against the Akatsuki Hoshigaki Kisame."

Minato nodded; truthfully, the information brough some level of relief. He had hoped his counterpart had not just sat back and sent his ninja—including Academy students who hadn't even graduated—into battle. That he had shared in the burden of fighting was reassuring.

Minato followed Baki down the halls of the hospital, and Gaara and Kankurou trailed like ducklings behind them both. Baki lead them to a private ward, knocking politely on the door before entering and bowing: "Kazekage-sama, I have brought the Hokage."

Minato noticed two things when he went through the door—one: the Kazekage, like many shinobi, was not a happy patient. He sat grumpily in a propped-up hospital bed, the shadow of a scowl lingering on his face. And two: there was a young girl with sandy-blonde hair—the Kazekage's daughter—sitting in a chair by the bed. She sat up a little bit straighter when Gaara and Kankurou came into the room as well. They quietly went over to join her, standing by their father's bed.

"Ah, Hokage-dono," the Kazekage said. He moved off the thin hospital sheet covering his legs and swung them around to the floor. The Kazekage wasn't wearing his formal robes, as he had been every other time Minato had met with him, instead he wore a combat uniform not unlike the rest of his ninja. The only nod to his position was blue and white trim—the colors of the Kazekage's office—on his flak jacket, which was hung on the wall next to the bed. The leader of Suna stood, and Minato could see the stiffness of only recently healed wounds in the movement. The Kazekage knew he could see it, too, if the tight displeasure around his eyes was any indication. "Thank you for coming to Suna's aid, ally."

The Kazekage probably would have been more displeased—and thus a touch less gracious—if Minato hadn't been standing before him, his arm in a sling, obviously having been injured as well. Minato was thankful that Sakura had insisted he use the sling—'I know it's healed, but give your muscles a break! The sling's not going to make it impossible for you to use the arm if you need to, but it might remind you not to screw around with the arm until the new skin is less tender.'

"Konoha values its alliance with Suna," Minato said, careful to keep defensiveness and accusation out of his tone. He only wanted to express reassurance, not spark bitter feelings. The Kazekage inclined his head.

"However, I fear this is not over," he said, raising his head again to meet Minato's gaze.

"Yes," he agreed. "This was only a fraction of Akatsuki's strength."

"It seems likely that this was a diversion," the Kazekage said. "They sent enough of a force to threaten Suna such that it forced our ally, Konoha, to march. This has left your Village with a substantial portion of your ninja force absent."

Minato knew what he was trying to say. "We have left certain measures in place to protect the Village," he said, "but I will admit that I had some concerns, myself. Madara's Akatsuki has already caused problems for Konoha, and did so in stealth. But we knew that we could not leave Suna to this siege; to abandon our allies now would also fit into Madara's plans. He wants to fragment us, pick us off one by one, drive us to secondary conflicts that will weaken us. Madara knows how to play us. We can only hope that being aware of the manipulation will help us from completely falling victim to it."

"You will want to return to your Village quickly," the Kazekage acknowledged. "If you wish to leave your worst wounded in our care so that you may do so with speed, we have room in our hospital for them."

It was a gracious offer, and apparently heartfelt. Minato bowed his head slightly. "We thank you—" he started. He would have said more, but there was a brisk knock on the door and a drawn-looking runner poked his head into the room. The two Kage, Baki, and the three children turned to face the pale man.

"Kazekage-sama, Hoakge-sama," he said, and there was definite fear in his tone. "There is a man at the gates. He asks for you, Hokage-sama."


	82. Star

_TH: Gasp!_

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Eighty-two**

**Theme:: Star**

* * *

The eastern sky was beginning to deepen to purple, stars barely a glimmer in that soft violet, as the western sky still blazed orange with the setting sun. It was nearly as orange as the mask of the man standing a few meters back from Suna's massive gates.

Minato tamped down on the spark of hot hate that bloomed in his chest at the sight of the greatest enemies he'd ever faced. The man who'd killed Kushina.

That orange mask turned upward to point in his direction, the single eyehole shadowed, no hint of Sharingan visible. "Congratulations, Hokage-sama," Madara called up to the wall where Minato stood, the Kazekage beside him. "You have killed two of my Akatsuki. Well done!"

The Kazekage leaned forward. "What is your purpose in Suna, Uchiha Madara?"

Madara's head tilted to the side thoughtfully in response to the stern demand. "My purpose?" he asked, and Minato had a feeling the damnable man was smirking behind his mask. "Why, I merely wished to chat with my dear countryman, there."

"Don't pretend at civility with me, Exile," Minato growled.

"So angry," Madara said, with relish. Hidden by the wall, Minato's hands clenched into fists. "You should be celebrating your victory here. After all, your combined forces took out two Akatsuki members and a quarter of Orochimaru's toys."

"I suspect," the Kazekage said, his voice cold and even, "that your presence here is to _prevent _us from celebrating. You are, after all, the leader of Akatsuki. That you are here is a reminder that the battle may have been won, but the war has not."

"Ah yes, well that is true," Madara admitted with false humility. "Pity. I do so love to crush hopes and dreams. Your pragmatism is… disappointing."

"Do you wish to fight now, Madara?" Minato called down, voice tight. "Is that why you've come?"

"Well, I was going to wait until you got home, but that was merely for the scenery. I suppose now is as fitting a time as any. It's not like your allies will be able to help you," Madara said. He waved a hand vaguely. "And while it would have been more visually pleasing to have been able to see forests leveled during the battle, this windswept desert has a certain desolate beauty to it."

He pretended to consider the twilit dunes before he snapped his fingers as if recalling something. "Ah! That's right. I nearly forgot. I brought you a gift, Hokage-sama. Something to cheer you right up."

Minato's muscles grew tense—_:this could not be good:_—and Madara… did… something…

And there was swirl of sand, a brief howling of wind as if into a vacuum, and the air around Madara's mask's eyehole wavered.

A small blond body tumbled out of thin air onto the sand, sprawling with a cry that was audible even up on Suna's wall.

"Really, Hokage-sama," Madara said as Minato's blood froze in his veins. "You thought the Grand Seal would stop me? It may have prevented me from setting foot in Konoha, but it doesn't keep people in Konoha from stepping out."

Madara reached down and seized a handful of blond hair, jerking roughly up. Minato's vision went red with fury at the harsh handling of his son. "Naruto!"

"It really was a simple thing. Sasori is so clever with his puppets, you know. Oh, excuse me, of course you do. Too bad about the Uchiha Clan Head; he was going to do great things," Madara sighed mockingly. He must have had others in Konoha, Minato realized, sleeper agents—puppets. And the Grand Seal… He was right. It didn't stop people inside from leaving. It only stopped those on the outside from getting in.

Minato's heart beat fast with adrenaline, his blood sizzling with anger.

Madara looked down at Naruto, who was crying and pulling at Madara's grasp. He gave the boy a little shake. "Well, Naruto-kun? Say hello to your father."

Minato didn't think. He just _moved_.


	83. Fake

_TH: Ugh action scenes. After writing all my other stories, I'm so sick of action scenes. And yet I can never seem to write a story without them. Sigh._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Eighty-three**

**Theme:: Fake**

* * *

Minato's _Hiraishin _landed him within hairsbreadth from Madara. With a flash of movement, Minato struck at the Exile's wrist, forcing him to let go of Naruto. The six-year-old latched on to Minato's leg like a limpet, sobbing and sniffling. Minato slashed out with his kunai, forcing Madara to leap back. He went, laughing.

Remembering a night six years ago, an attack six years ago, Minato swiftly checked over Naruto's clothes for any explosive seals, but Madara hadn't seen fit to use that trick again here. Relieved, but not relaxed, Minato scooped Naruto into one arm, throwing a trident kunai with the other. He Flashed to it, putting some distance between them and Madara, and—juggling the other two kunai in his hands—shuffled Naruto around so that he clung to Minato's back. He didn't want to set his son down, because it would be harder to keep track of him if he did, and he didn't trust Madara not to target the boy. If Naruto were on Minato's back, Minato could be sure to know exactly where and how to guard him from any of Madara's attacks.

Minato looked up at the sound of Suna's gates opening. The Kazekage was going to send men out. Minato swore privately in his thoughts, because they could not help. Minato wished the Kazekage was not so injured—only Kage-level ninja could hope to stand against Madara, and Minato would have been glad for the back-up. As it was, the Jounin and Chuunin charging toward them would only be so much cannon fodder. Madara would cut through them like wet tissue paper.

"Stay back!" Minato shouted once they were near enough to hear. "Stand back, let me take him!"

They may have heard, but they did not listen. They came on, and Madara—laughing—moved against them. He was a flicker, a dark bolt of lightning followed by trails of crimson blood from the men he cut down. Minato jerked into motion, catching Madara's drawn blades with his own.

Kunai-against-kunai, Minato surged forward, pressing Madara back, away from the tattered remains of the Suna squad. "Get back," he gritted to them over his shoulder. "Grab your wounded and retreat! He is mine."

On his back, Naruto was reacting to the nearness of Madara, and his thin arms were nearly choking Minato as they tightened with fear around his neck. Minato twisted, lashing out toward Madara's stomach with a side kick, trying to drive him back a little. But his foot just passed through Madara as if he were a ghost.

_:Madara's phasing ability,: _Minato remembered. _:Damn!:_

Minato heaved once on their crossed blades, throwing both of them back. Swiftly, Minato pulled out one of the small scrolls he kept in the breast pockets of his flak jacket, unfurled it with a snap, and dropped it on the sands. It had barely touched the ground before he stamped a foot onto the middle of it, in the middle of the seal drawn upon it. His fingers twisted into a handseal and he surged chakra into the scroll seal through his foot.

The earth shook with the Doton jutsu's release, the dunes shifting underfoot like waves of an ocean. Minato kept steady with some very quick footwork, and Madara evaded the problem by leaping into the air. He pulled the large war fan at his back around into his hands and swung it in an elaborate pattern below him, stirring up a wind that lofted him above the sand until the Doton had stopped and the ground has stilled. Before he could land, while he was still in midair and thus limited in his agility, Minato hurled a kunai into the air above him, Flashed to it, and threw another.

It was the same move that had felled an Oto ninja earlier, a lightning-fast attack from above. Madara didn't have the time he needed to activate whatever jutsu he used to phase out. He did not manage to avoid Minato's attack.

They crashed to the sandy ground, Minato's kunai buried in Madara's shoulder. Madara hit the sand on his back, with Minato falling into a crouch above him. Almost immediately upon landing, Madara's legs lashed up in a basic move that was intended to drive enemies away enough so their target could rise. It worked, and Minato left his kunai in Madara's shoulder when he leapt out of the way. Madara rose, yanking the weapon from himself with a grunt. He tossed the kunai away.

"Very good," he complimented. Minato couldn't tell if he meant it or if the approving tone was a fake. For all he knew, Madara _was _pleased. Minato wouldn't put it past the madman to enjoy being injured, if it meant his opponent was going to give him a good fight. "My turn."

Minato just barely processed the words when Madara moved. Like before, he was fast, a blur. He swiped his war fan across his body, blasting a Fuuton towards Minato. Minato broke the oncoming windwall with a sharp movement of a specialized taijutsu, catching the wind on chakra-charged fore-arms, held crossed in front of him, and deflecting the force of the Fuuton down and to either side with a sweeping movement with both arms.

Madara was right behind his attack, rushing forward while Minato was still recovering from blocking the Fuuton. Minato struck out with kunai in his hands, but Madara phased out, and he didn't stop running forward, so he passed straight through Minato and Naruto.

Minato tried to turn, but Madara was already behind him, and Minato gave a desperate cry as he felt Madara tear Naruto from his back…

"Now," Madara said, holding a squirming Naruto up by the back of his shirt, "let us see if we can't make things a little more interesting."

He slammed a chakra-gloved hand against Naruto's seal.


	84. Writer's Choice-- Water

_TH: A couple people have mentioned puzzlement that Minato kept Naruto with him during the fight. Let me reiterate: Naruto had just been stolen from Konoha, which had been shut down under the Grand Seal, and had a couple hundred ninja watching over it (not to mention the special guards who would have been watching over Naruto). Minato thought he would be safe there; after that being proven wrong, he wouldn't trust anybody else to guard his son. Also, he was already in the battle with Madara. To flee the battlefield to drop Naruto off somewhere would be to give Madara an opening to attack Suna (who after weeks of siege wouldn't be up for it). Or, if Minato tried to drop Naruto off with the Konoha forces at the mobile medical unit, it would lead Madara right to where the vulnerable wounded were kept. Minato wasn't about to do either. And if Minato did drop Naruto off somewhere, Madara was perfectly capable of using his own little space-time jutsu to get there. With Naruto on his back, Minato only needed to concentrate on defending himself (which would have included Naruto by extension), not himself and where ever he'd tucked his son._

* * *

**Going Sideways**

* * *

**Chapter Eighty-four**

**Theme:: (Writer's Choice) Water**

* * *

Sakura groaned, her head and her body aching, every muscle in her burning. She was lying sprawled on the floor of… Where was she?

Sakura pushed herself up stiffly, looking around with a pained grimace. This was not her tent at the Mobile Medical Unit. It wasn't a tent at all; she seemed to be lying in the middle of a flooded hallway. Sakura couldn't see the end of the passageway either way she looked; both ends of the hallway curved away with no branches or doorways in sight.

She blinked down at her hands, wrist-deep in water, and lifted one in confusion. She was human-shaped, clothed in her _henge_'d form's garb. She even had a pouch of shuriken and kunai at her hip. But she didn't feel the chakra pull a _henge _would have had. What was going on?

She sat up fully, pleased to note that the aching stiffness in her limbs was fading quickly, and gained her feet. She wiped her hands on her clothes, pausing momentarily when the touch yielded dry cloth. _:This just keeps getting weirder…: _she thought with acute unease. She had just been lying in the water that was still lapping at her ankles; by all rights, her clothes should be soaking. But they weren't.

"So… am I dead?" she wondered aloud. She looked up and down the hallway again. "Or… is this an illusion?"

She had only just been in the MMU tent, passing out orders and seeing to patients. She couldn't remember being attacked, or anything. She had just been going about her business as a medic and then, suddenly, she was waking up… here. Wherever here was.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Sakura formed handseals and tried to pulse her chakra, to disrupt the _genjutsu _(if that was indeed what this was), but was left gaping as she realized _she had no chakra_. But that was madness, because every living thing had chakra. To be without chakra was to be dead!

_:A-am I dead?:_

Sakura stared at her hands for a moment, brows drawn together. Death… She looked once again down one end of the hallway, and then the other. If she was dead, what was she supposed to do? Walk? There really wasn't anything else _to _do. Even if she wasn't dead… though how she could explain her complete lack of chakra otherwise was beyond her… then she could either stay put or pick a direction and start walking.

Maybe the hallway ended somewhere. Maybe she'd at least figure out where this was. She certainly wasn't going to just stay here and do nothing.

Sakura turned smartly to her left and started walking.

The hallway continued on for what seemed like forever, never branching, never stopping. There was a constant gentle curve to the left that really should have had the hallway running into itself, doubling back, but it just kept going. Sakura was tempted to think it a spiral, spinning, spinning up and up, but there was no slant to the floor, the water that seemed just as neverending as the passageway never flowed. And even though Sakura could clearly hear a continuous dripping sound, there was never any ripple in the water that wasn't from her own footsteps.

Sakura felt the small hairs at her nape rise. This place was unnatural. Impossible.

Twitchy and on edge, Sakura palmed a kunai. Just in case.


End file.
